Really? Wow, I did not know that. That really sucks for the workers, I can't believe there aren't laws protecting the workers from getting scammed like that. Minimum wage here is 9 dollars an hour... our taxes are way different though. I am a 3rd year apprentice and I make 2.5 times that, and with the taxes I still have a hard time making ends meet. How does your unemployment work?
Here, as soon as you lose your job, you're eligible for unemployment, it pays about 55% of your salary up to 540/week (before taxes, after taxes you barely get 400) for so many months, giving you time to find a job and not lose your house and all of your belongings. In the same situation, I would rather stay on unemployment till I found something decent that's better than minimum wage, and that has to do with what you're trained in. However, like I said, I have no idea how it works in the U.S.