Thank you for your civil reply.

Where I went wrong in my "belief" was in considering the context. The proper context, in the situation that Pete suggested and as reflected in the examples you provided, was where a limited term employment contract is in play. In such cases I have been rightfully corrected.

However, it is illegal for an employer to make a blanket condition of hire that permanent-hire employees must buy company stock or otherwise kick money back to that employer on a regular basis. The only situation I'm aware of that permits anything close is when an employer withholds a portion of pay to offset medical insurance expense. The only other situation that may come close is when a 401K company match is in the form of company stock, which may be "locked down" for some period of time before the employee can opt to move that money to another available investment.

As for things voiced on message boards, IMO a big purpose of these boards is to correct people's erroneous beliefs for the benefit of all. Also IMO, when someone says "I believe" something to be fact, it is that person's opinion subject to verification/correction. The person may have applied their belief out of proper context, as in this case.

But I agree that all of us should try harder to verify things to the best of our ability, or to pose the thought as a question, thus seeking clarification/correction from those properly equipped.

Thank you again.

SGE