Can't speak to legal, but not moral if they are not willing to pay anything at all. Recruiter will definitely find out. The recruiter did some work, put in the

Can't speak to legal, but not moral if they are not willing to pay anything at all. Recruiter will definitely find out. The recruiter did some work, put in the time to set you up with a job, they ought to be comp'd for their efforts. Now if the recruiter is asking for something unreasonably high, then there should be some negotiation (particularly if there is no contract in place), but the recruiter ought to get something. As to what you should do, most people probably wouldn't fault you for taking the job if you're desparate (as in, my kids will starve/be homeless if I don't take this job). But if it's like, I can't buy that $200 hoodie because I won't have a job, then you might be in a position where you can afford to keep looking. As far as the company goes, a lot of people will say that "oh be careful working for these guys, look at how they'e telling you to be dishonest" etc. I can understand that, but I also understand what it takes/means to hustle as a startup. I'm not saying what they're doing is right, but that their runway might be thinning out and they are resorting to tactics such as this to cut costs. End of the day, it's your call, the recruiter will hopefully help other candidates and get by. My feeling is this happens more often than we think..