First of all, this happened to me many years ago when I was a teenager and had zero life experience. I can't help but see the similarities in all of your stories happening now, it's a shame how little has changed in the way workplaces treat their employees.
I was about 17 and I was offered a job working for a store that sold motorcycles, atv's, boats, and everything fun an outdoorsy. I was beyond excited to be around all these expensive toys all day. The company also liked to tell all their new hires about the perks and summer retreats where employees get to try them all out at the owners cottage or farm or wherever. On the first day I got to help lineup the motorcycles along the front entranceway and see all the boats, then I was walked to the business next door that did car oil undercoating. I was told I was going to work here most days and they'd come get me when the store was busy.
I was very confused, I didn't have garage clothes with me, I was supposed to be learning about motorcycles! The man who was now my “boss” wouldn't give me a good explination why I was working off site of where I was hired, but a job was a job and I didn't want to let anyone down. After I was given coveralls with someone else's name on them I was shown to the garage and under a car on a hoist, given a 5 min demonstration of how to use the spray nozzle and clear blockages, then left to my own to do the other 5 cars in the parking lot. Keep in mind I had no idea how to use a hydraulic lift, no idea how to work around cars, or any idea of what hazardous materials were that I was using.
Day 2 I worked all day with the boss coming and going, often getting annoyed that I kept asking questions about each vehicle and the lift(how to position a truck vs a small hatchback).
Day 3 I asked about going back to the main store and was told I work for him now
Day 4 I asked about what ppe I should be wearing as I was now totally covered in oil stains, my hair was no longer washing out each night from rubbing the bottoms of cars (I'm tall), I asked about the material safety sheets for the oil/spray material. It was the first time in my life I was ever yelled at by an adult, not a scolding, not talked down to, full blown screamed at. After lunch he handed me a printed sheet of paper from some website saying I didn't need any ppe then he left the shop.
I'm having palpitations just writing this
I watched him leave as I was standing in the garage in front of a truck on the hoist and I thought I was going to die, I would be crushed to death by a vehicle that I didn't put on properly, I would get cancer from the spray, or lung damage from the fumes. I called my dad.
I had only seen my dad for a few minutes each night because I was, well a teenager, and because I would shower and go to bed right away every night when I got home from exhaustion.
I told my dad about this new shop I was at, how I was working under vehicles and had no idea what I was doing, how he screamed at me and wouldn't give me ppe, and how I was afraid I'd be crushed in a garage with nobody around. I was 17 and full blown crying brains out meltdown and didn't know what to do.
My dad told me to go outside and go to my car, if anyone, including the new “boss” asks what I'm doing say I quit and do not go back inside. He was on his way.
My father showed up in the parking lot just as my boss was pulling in, the boss got out yelling that I was lazy and to get back to work, I told him I quit and I wasn't going back in there. He made fun of me for quitting, made fun of me for obviously crying, ridiculed me and belittled me for not wanting to be put in a dangerous spot. My father watched all this, I only stood my ground because he was there watching from his shitty old salmon coloured civic.
After the boss stormed away my dad approached me and told me he was proud of me, we didn't need the money that badly, and that nobody deserves 2 weeks notice if they don't treat their employees well. No job was worth a few dollars in exchange for your safety. He hugged me and told me to call right now and ask for my final paycheck to be cut, not to go inside as he'll yell and then we'd be stuck in there listening to him.
On the phone I was promptly told to fuck myself and that I wasn't getting paid if I didn't finish the week, plus 2 more weeks for notice. My dad just smiled and said it was OK and help my shoulder firmly.
Now my father worked at a bank as a branch manager, not high up by any means, and definitly not very well paid either. BUT he was involved with the “corporate” type people enough to know a few in town. I hadn't known it at the time, or even noticed the other vehicles that pulled in while wiping my tears away, but my father had made some calls before leaving the office. 2 cars with a combined 8 lawyers had shown up in the parking lot and got to watch the end of the screaming by the “boss”. (it's important to now in my city there had been a very high profile teenage death the summer before by a 16 year old crushed at a construction site. No safety training in place and they had treated the student as expendable. At least that's the takeaway from the news stories, and the fines/jail sentences handed out afterwards). My dad called his bank friend, the corporate lawyer and asked about advice on what I should do to protect myself. I was told the lawyer after hearing my short story emptied his, and the buildings neighbouring law firm, into their vehicles and were not going to let what had happened the summer before happen again.
The lawyers all looked impressive, especially to a oil soaked crying 17 year old. They said I did the right thing, I prevented another tragedy by stopping work and saying NO. They said they would make sure this didn't happen to another student ever again. The 8 lawyers and my father went into the shop, at first there was yelling, then silence. After a few more minutes they came out and I was given a check for my 4 days plus 2 weeks severance.
The shop was closed in the months afterwards, I never heard anything more from the boss and only snippets from my dad occasionally that he heard from his froend. I was told that the guys business had become a but of a pet project for the lawyers in that office after. I don't know if it was the legal costs of constantly dealing with city/government compliance officers/inspectors and the legal fees and fines associated, or if the lawyers went further with it themselves, but the guy closed shop.
The takeaway;
Quit, say NO, don't be afraid, don't give 2 weeks notice unless that company treated you like gold.
That final day is still fresh in my memory today, taking a stand is hard. Very hard. But it gets easier after.
I know this isn't the same story about low wages, or job offers with different salary expectations then you expected that we usually see here. And I know not everyone has a family member who's willing to come rescue them at the drop of a hat, let alone with a law firm in tow. Not everyone can escape/quit and go without a paycheck.
BUT
You life is worth something, nobody owns you, nobody can risk your safety, nobody can abuse you, nobody can refuse to pay you for the time you put in. There are other jobs, there are hundreds of other jobs waiting for you right now where they will treat you better. Life is short and you deserve to be happy and safe. Please please take care of yourselves and your family members who might not have the courage to stand up for themselves and say No.