My former boss sucked. He used to say he only hired poor people because he didn't want to deal with people who would not depend on him.
He used to pay our salaries late, and not pay the other benefits we had the rights to (not USA)
I worked within the company for four years, learnt the job and, because he wasn't paying me correctly, I quit and open my own (same) business.
We spent three years without any salary from my new business so I got another job to make ends meet for a while and then it started thriving.
During the pandemic we were hit badly, and are slowing recovering from that, but we never failed paying our employees (I opened the business with a workmate from the same former company)
This January he ran out of the business, after 28 years. In our small town there are only three companies like mine.
We got all their former clients. And their employees.
Life is good.