From Texas. Can confirm. My first job was at a children’s hospital at 17. Previously, I volunteered at the same hospital when I was aged 14-16. I collected toy donations and distributed them to different care units. When it came time for me to need the money and ask for a wage they directed me to a temp agency as a “formality.
Buy it: Good Union Made San Francisco 1976 Shirt
Here in Finland we have laws that prevent people from being illegally fired, these go from someone being fired cause they wanted to get paid, to someone being fired cause of their medical condition, and normally its as simple as going to your union, which are heavily supported here, and from there they check if there was anything sketchy and if so then the company is going to court for illegal firing.