Why was the guy working for less than he thought he was worth in the first place? I approached a local business about working part time as a machinist to supplement my income from teaching auto mechanics in a public school system where I was taking a pretty severe pay cut to have good health insurance for family members with expensive, chronic illnesses. We discussed the job and its responsibilities, and I asked for what I considered to be a fair wage. The business owner agreed, and I worked there for a little over three years. Yes, I had a key to the building and the alarm code, and I usually worked my own hours after closing time without any supervision. Quite by accident, I discovered that my "part time" wage was more than some of the full time employees were making. I'm very sure the work I was doing was making the business a profit, or they would not have kept paying me. When I owned a business I had some very simple rules for my employees- - - -"Get to work on time, earn your pay, and don't steal from me!" When a pay raise was appropriate I offered it before a good employee got around to asking. The ones who only worked enough to "break even" and didn't contribute to the success of the business didn't stay around long.
Jerry