I found out yesterday of a company in the Salt Lake City area trying to save a few bucks by not paying someone for their first week of work... by calling it "training" instead.
Of course, this was not discussed in any way with the employee in their offer letter or in ay other way.
Of course, startup are (well, should be) in cash-conservation mode, but company should go without lights, telephone and Internet access before they try to weasel out of paying an honest day's pay for someone's honest work.
The sad thing is that the tactics companies use will tug at your heart strings (I am so sorry that this happened....), blame it on "the system" (I don't know why you weren't informed of this.... company policy and all....), complain about company profits (look, we're a startup and cash is more valuable than oxygen right now...) promise equity and stock instead (we're going to be the next Yahoo... and when we IPO, you're going to be rich), blah blah blah....
...but all of this is at the expense of the employee, not the employer. Taking risks like that is for owners of companies (that's why they pay you the big-bucks). Not employees.
If your employer pulls something like this, get your facts and documentation in-order and let them know, politely but clearly, that you apologize for the confusion this may cause to "the system", but they need to abide their legal responsibility and pay for the work you did.
And, if this isn't a good enough reason to pack your bags and start looking for work elsewhere, just start imagining the Enron logo on that crisp business card they gave you.
