Are Co Founders Employees?

The risk with not paying your employee co-founders (and if they are an officer of the company, then they are likely an employee) at least the minimum wage is that they might sue you personally if things don't work out. ... So, you can probably not pay yourself in the very early days.

Are startup founders employees?

Even if a founder isn't an officer, the founder is probably still properly classified as an employee. If the founders are employees, state and federal wage and hour laws will apply to them. So founders should be paid at least minimum wage to stay on the right side of these laws.

What is a founding employee?

A founding member can often feel similar to a founder or co-founder because they come on so early in the process that they're also putting in crazy hours and maybe even taking a pay cut in order to be a part of something important. But a founding team member is an early employee, not a founder.