Background: I've been working at a startup company for the last few years. Low pay for a little equity kind of situation. During my time at the company, there have been numerous occasions where my boss has missed pay periods. Sometimes going weeks, at its worst a month, without resolution. They eventually do resolve the missing compensation. However, when you are being compensated less salary for equity, it makes finances really tight. I've tried to be patient when pay gets missed. Understanding that it's the “startup life,” but it gets to a point where only threatening my boss, by not working, gets payroll moving in the right direction.
So, getting to the point, my boss calls me today, after I told him I'm not working until the payroll issue is resolved (again) and he tells me I need to choose between being a “partner” in the company and an “employee” of the company. Essentially, in their mind, the partner is understanding and accepting of payroll not being made on time. Whereas an employee expects and gets their paycheck on time, every time. My boss ended the call by giving me the choice to move forward as a partner (and change my threatening ways of communicating about payroll) or move on.
Looking for some perspective.