So maybe a week's unpaid leave or unpaid work ain't so bad after all.
Absolutely. If you were hard up and asked your employer for some money, I'm sure they'd stump up without hesitation so why not work for free?
Of course those less selfish might actually think about donating money to their company. Times are hard and admittedly re mortgaging isn't easy right now, but if you dig deep I'm sure you'll all be able to make at least a small contribution.