Is it illegal for your boss (the owner of your company) to have you write articles for her to publish in the paper under her name?

If the article is company related, then anything you write on its behalf belongs to your boss (as the company owner). I encourage you to keep copies of everything you write, however, and build a portfolio. This could come in handy as you seek other jobs in the future.

Not at all. It happens all the time. There are two issues here. The first is: is it okay for my boss to have me write things? The answer to that is that you are employed to do whatever your boss asks you to do. You are free to say no, she is free to fire you and find someone who will.

The second question is whether it's okay to ghost write for someone. Of course not, it is an actual career for some people. Do you think Donald Trump wrote "The Art of the Deal"? Of course not, he can barely read, let alone put together a coherent sentence. The book isn't a work of art by any means, but it's far above his level. It was written by a man named Tony Schwartz, in case you are wondering) There is nothing illegal or even particularly unusual about writing something for someone else to publish.

You work for her, she asks you to write articles. She is publishing in a newspaper not a scientific journal. If you hand the articles over willingly that would not be plagiarism. However if she does not provide the main points of the article and the details that need to be included then it is flat out taking credit for someone else's work to put her name on the articles. Does your job description involve writing press releases or ghost writing reports?

It is called pseudonymous writing or "ghost writing." It is not only legal, it is common practice. Your boss pays you for your "work product" which includes your writing. If you wrote something that belonged to you and your boss stole the credit, that would be plagiarism.

I have written many columns for others in the past and in my current post have marketing specialists that write articles which sometime are published in my name and others in my organization. This is very common.

Yes. Called "Plagiarism" Get proof and sue her/him.

Peace.

you're being paid. it's ok

Your work isn't published as an original work under your name, so I do not believe plagiarism is at play here. She is taking credit for your work, but your work belongs to her anyway as an employee of the company.

It all depends on the contract you've signed.

If you've agreed that your work is property of the company, then yes, she's able to pass your work off as her's/company's

No it's not illegal if you both agree to it.

Of course. If you do so *YOU* will be immediately arrested by the Central Writing Enforcement Unit for impersonating a person with a clue, dragged of to prison and shot on the spot.