Would you work for free? The next guy might

The lack of a paycheck isn't stopping some people from showing up for work. CNBC reports that some people have started working for free. In a trend that is both alarming and possibly illegal, some companies are relying on the free labor of their recently laid off employees or hard up recent graduates to carry on with business as usual. Experts question whether or not employees are being taken advantage of.

One of the examples is for an "employee" who works for free at a startup called JobNob, with the hopes of getting a job when the economy recovers. But the twist is that JobNob hosts happy hour events to connect other startups that can't pay for work with employees who don't mind working for free. For the startups, this is an incredible deal, not only do they avoid costly wages but there's no mention of company ownership for employees either. And despite all the assurances in the world, if it isn't in writing you can't take it to the bank.