Are you so sure about that?
I took a job for an agreed upon wage. That wage is the promise of the employer to pay me for my efforts.
If said employer fails to manage the business appropriately and fails to pay my wage, at what point should I be trying to save his business?
I took a job for an agreed upon wage. That wage is the promise of the employer to pay me for my efforts.
If said employer fails to manage the business appropriately and fails to pay my wage, at what point should I be trying to save his business?
Your wage depends upon you being there and doing what the employer wants WHEN the employer directs you to be there. If you decide to put in a lot of hours of overtime, without being asked/directed to do it, the employer doesn't owe you for it, unless they were aware of it and did nothing to stop it. If the employer says they have to furlough you or lay you off, and you decide to work anyway, the employer is not responsible to pay you for your efforts - in fact that would be counter to the intention of the furlough/layoff. Same for overtime - unless the employer directs you to put in overtime, you cannot expect pay for your decision to put in the extra.
As far as why you should do it, there can be a number of reasons. It may be a great company going through a hard spell and fighting for it's life. If there are real manpower cuts in the offing, it may help designate you as one who deserves to be part of the smaller team. Some time ago, Southwest folks took a pay cut to continue working - that's not much different than working more hours without the extra compensation, except legally.
Heck, I enlisted in the military for an agreed on wage, opportunity to be promoted, health benefits, retirement, etc. In the end, the government decided that my health care for life would no longer be "free", but I now have to pay for health care insurance and even co pays. If the government can't/won't keep it's promises, and it meddles in things that affect my company, why expect my company to do better? Sometimes discretion is a deciding factor - where are you as far as employment/retirement opportunities compared to what would happen if you bailed?