More than 75% of Job Posts are Remote • Hacker News Board

Re: More than 75% of Job Posts are Remote

#61

Post by 41209 » Fri, Aug 13, 2021, 5:12 PM UTC

officialchicken wrote: post #50

41209 wrote: post #14

Has anyone seen if there's a clear path to working from an overseas location. I have an LLC if that works, I figure I could do a Corp to Corp as long as LLC exists within the US.

LLC isn't required as long as you have an offer letter stating that you are responsible for taxes in your country, that you are a contractor and not an employee (critical in the EU) and have the company file a W8-BEN [0] with the IRS. [0] https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8ben.pdf

I have work authorization for another country.

I'll probably consult with a lawyer before doing this though.

Re: More than 75% of Job Posts are Remote

#62

Post by morpheos137 » Fri, Aug 13, 2021, 8:11 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #55

morpheos137 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost all employment in the USA is "at will." So an offer letter is not an employment contract. So if conditions change and employer could require you to come in to work even if the offer was remote only and let you go if you refuse.

In such a situation, you would engage a labor law attorney to discuss promissory estoppel and have them prepare and send a settlement offer to not take the employer to court. That is why the offer letter paper trail is important.

In that case the employer should take the employee to court assuming the meritless case does not get thrown out. There is nothing to "settle" with an at will employee.

Is there any sucessful case history of this?

Again an offer letter is not a contract. After you start working your employer can change the terms of your employment, whether it is a month or a year later makes no legal difference for an at will employee-employer situation. Similarly you are free to quit your job after a month or a year without being sued by your former employer in either case. At will employment means the terms of employment are continuously negotiable. However, I believe in some US jurisdictions, if your employer cuts your pay or requires you to work in a new location you may be eligible for unemployment compensation in some cases if you quit. That is about it.

This idea that highly paid programmers could sue their employers if they require them to show up at the office seems ridiculous to me. Unless you are an independent contractor you do not get to decide the terms of your employment. You are always free to quit and get another job though.

Re: More than 75% of Job Posts are Remote

#63

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 13, 2021, 8:22 PM UTC

morpheos137 wrote: post #62

toomuchtodo wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In such a situation, you would engage a labor law attorney to discuss promissory estoppel and have them prepare and send a settlement offer to not take the employer to court. That is why the offer letter paper trail is important.

In that case the employer should take the employee to court assuming the meritless case does not get thrown out. There is nothing to "settle" with an at will employee. Is there any sucessful case history of this? Again an offer letter is not a contract. After you start working your employer can change the terms of your employment, whether it is a month or a year later makes no legal difference for an at will employee…

[deleted]

Re: More than 75% of Job Posts are Remote

#64

Post by disabled » Sat, Aug 14, 2021, 7:15 AM UTC

neogodless wrote: post #5

disabled wrote: post #2

I also would not be surprised if more American jobs are now hiring people on as contractors only, without the benefits.

Benefits are just an appealing name given to anything an employer chooses to spend money on instead of paying you that money (and the trade typically works in their favor). Certainly, there are cases where contract employment is offered with pay that does not compete well against full-time employment/salary plus benefits, but that is not always the case. Anecdotally, I've seen contracts done as W2 with benefits, even…

I am the OP to this comment.

Thanks, but I can only work part-time due to my disabilities. I have 2 rare neurological diseases affecting my peripheral nervous system plus type 1 diabetes. Even as an electrical engineering graduate student this is a bad situation, being American. Not every person working in tech is able-bodied.

Via the Affordable Care Act, I am heavily disadvantaged. Not only do I meet the maximum out-of-pocket (both in network/out-of-pocket yearly), but I have a lot of uncovered costs. My out-of-pocket costs as an individual are well over $20K/year. Also, where I am from in the US, the ACA plans are only HMO plans. One of the immune-mediated neurological diseases I have is very rare, and I am lucky to be alive, as this disease has been life-threatening in the past. It is in remission now. However, the disease was discovered on NIH grant funds in the 2000s, so I really am tremendously lucky to be alive.

That being said, HMOs are a problem. There are only certain doctors who really know how to treat my very rare disease. If I want to stay alive, I really cannot be on an ACA plan.

The system is @#$% and I suggest you check your privilege at the door. I currently live abroad as I want to (need to?) stay alive. I also rely on certain, hard-to-obtain treatments, too.