To preface this, I live in Australia. Minimum here is $22, but there's an increased pay rate for casual that makes it $25. We also have this thing called 'super', which is like our version of a 401k. Employers are all legally required to pay it, on top of our hourly rates. Even if we are casual.
The caffe restaurant I started working at a couple years ago didn't respect these laws. All staff were casual, and many staff were getting payed under the minimum rate for casual. Additionally, nobody was getting super, somehow. Which would be a kind of tax fraud come reporting day.
Despite crap pay and no super, most of us were just glad to have a job, and the staff tended to get along as he did manage to foster an alright energy (most of the time). A few cooks left and suddenly we were grossly understaffed. He somehow couldn't find any cooks to fill, and all the staff started getting overworked. It happened with the front of house too and soon he found himself working seven day weeks.
Most of us wouldn't quit at that point out of pity, or comfort, or just not wanting to make it worse for the other staff who'd need to end up filling in.
One of the cooks who had quit reported to the courts about the lack of super payments and an investigation apprently started.
Come April 1st this year, he comes into the kitchen crying, and tells us he's decided to close. He decided to close on the 7th of April. He gave the 6 staff on duty that day 6 days notice that they would not have a job, and then asked us to not tell anyone else… Just a load of BS.
After he closes, he declares bankruptcy, meaning the investigation on super will never get anything from him. (I have a feeling he gave it all to his partner). He then falls into a hole of depression, which yeah, I feel bad for him. But it's so bad that he doesn't even bother to fill out or sign Employment Seperation Certificates, which are required to get on Jobseeker (social services between finding jobs).
Long story short. The few staff that stuck it out got a huge fuck you by a rapid closing operation and no reimbursement of super, and any chance of welfare while they look for other work getting shut down.
Lemme say it's just not worth it, trying to stick it out for a company that isn't paying you well is one of the worst ideas, and I feel like an idiot for doing it. If a place is going sideways like that you should get out while you can. The business owner is incompetent and putting up with wage theft will never end well, since if they can't even follow the rules on paying you properly, they have no respect for you, even if they act friendly on a personal level. Sticking it out will always end in them fucking you for convenience.