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Dutch employee fired by U.S. firm for shutting off webcam awarded €75K in court

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Re: Dutch employee fired by U.S. firm for shutting off webcam awarded €75K in court

#61

Post by Etheryte »

the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #52
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #3

>there was no urgent reason given to justify the immediate dismissal given.” He alleged that the termination was disproportionate Damn sweet. I wish we had such great employee protection laws in Austria, where the company/employer can terminate your employment relationship without any reason at all. >Less than a week after the plaintiff was fired, the Rijswijk branch of Chetu Inc. was deregistered from the Chamber of…

Note that it’s only the notice period that this considers. The Netherlands and Austria are the same in that you can terminate an employee without reason. //edit: apparently that’s incorrect for the Netherlands. Must have mixed that up.

This is not true at all. It's notoriously hard to fire someone in the Netherlands.

Re: Dutch employee fired by U.S. firm for shutting off webcam awarded €75K in court

#62

Post by astura »

6stringmerc wrote: post #16
yosamino wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not true that in Austria you can be terminated for any reason at all. There are protections in place. For example, in the regular case, i.e. 'no urgent reason' there is no such thing as an immediate dismissal, and this can be fought. Of course as always with the law ymmv - but there are many different ways in which your rights as a worker are protected. See this: https://www.usp.gv.at/mitarbeiter/beendigung-arbeitsve…

Very similar in Texas - it is called At Will employment. Other states are Right to Work. Each has pros and cons. I’ve only lived and worked in Texas so At Will is very close to “for any reason” as long as it’s not against the law. Don’t like your haircut? They can shut can you on the spot. On the flip side, if one day you go in and you’ve just had enough of the hourly retail job and think you can get a better one, yo…

>it is called At Will employment. Other states are Right to Work.

Wtf?

No, "right to work" is not the opposite of "at will," they have almost nothing to do with each other. Furthermore, Texas IS a "right to work" state.

"Right-to-work" laws are laws that make joining a union not a requirement for employment.

All states in the US are "at will" employment.

Re: Dutch employee fired by U.S. firm for shutting off webcam awarded €75K in court

#64

Post by the_mitsuhiko »

stoltzmann wrote: post #56
the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note that it’s only the notice period that this considers. The Netherlands and Austria are the same in that you can terminate an employee without reason. //edit: apparently that’s incorrect for the Netherlands. Must have mixed that up.

That's incorrect. Employers in the Netherlands must have a valid reason to fire staff - see https://business.gov.nl/running-your-business/staff/dismissi...

I just saw. For some reason I thought that the Netherlands have no restrictions there but apparently I was wrong.

Re: Dutch employee fired by U.S. firm for shutting off webcam awarded €75K in court

#65

Post by the_mitsuhiko »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #55
the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. Austria’s labor protections are fine. If you make rules around dismissals stricter then you greatly harm the ability for a company to hire in the first place. The current rules give you plenty of protection as an employee that you can find a new place of work and not suffer financially.

>Austria’s labor protections are fine When they're objectively worse than every other EU country, bordering on competing with the US, I can hardly call them "fine". >If you make rules around dismissals stricter then you greatly harm the ability for a company to hire in the first place. Please stop parroting the propaganda of the conservative party (ÖVP) who are bought and paid for by the business elite and would glad…

There is a lot I want to fix in Austria from bureaucracy to taxation of stock options and more. The employment law is very fine by me.

If you think that you will get better wages if it’s harder to dismiss employees I have doubts. The main reason devs don’t earn enough in Austria is that it’s hard and expensive to have a business there and that the country is not appealing for employees. That means that the few good IT companies have a small labor pool and need to relocate developers for whom the country is not appealing.

Re: Dutch employee fired by U.S. firm for shutting off webcam awarded €75K in court

#66

Post by tinyhouse »

GoToRO wrote: post #28

It's always something toxic when it comes to US companies. I had to do multiple background checks. In Romania they are unheard of.

Funny. Most US companies behave much better than companies outside the US. That's why Romanians looking to be hired by US companies and not vice versa (no attempt to offend you or any other Romanian, just stating a fact). This company sounds like a shitty one, the US of course has those like any other country, but it's usually the US ones that get more publicity when things like this happen.(also when good things happen, it goes both ways)

Re: Dutch employee fired by U.S. firm for shutting off webcam awarded €75K in court

#67

Post by formerly_proven »

belter wrote: post #50
sebazzz wrote: post #36

I love it when US companies meet Dutch labor laws.

Plus cue in the shock of US Employees, when they realize his court costs to sue his employer were less than 500 dollars.

This isn't harmonized across the EU though, e.g. in German labor courts each side pays their own fees and lawyers regardless of outcome. So even a completely illegal action by your employer can/will still cost you hundreds to thousands of euros when you go and fight it. (The flip side is you don't have to pay for a team of expensive corpo-lawyers in case you loose)

Re: Dutch employee fired by U.S. firm for shutting off webcam awarded €75K in court

#68

Post by Ekaros »

nraynaud wrote: post #30
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #3

>there was no urgent reason given to justify the immediate dismissal given.” He alleged that the termination was disproportionate Damn sweet. I wish we had such great employee protection laws in Austria, where the company/employer can terminate your employment relationship without any reason at all. >Less than a week after the plaintiff was fired, the Rijswijk branch of Chetu Inc. was deregistered from the Chamber of…

Plus you can always fire anyone for any reason in the EU, just give them enough money to stomach it.

Worst thing that can happen is being taken to court and ordered to pay some money.

Re: Dutch employee fired by U.S. firm for shutting off webcam awarded €75K in court

#69

Post by [deleted] »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #55
the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. Austria’s labor protections are fine. If you make rules around dismissals stricter then you greatly harm the ability for a company to hire in the first place. The current rules give you plenty of protection as an employee that you can find a new place of work and not suffer financially.

>Austria’s labor protections are fine When they're objectively worse than every other EU country, bordering on competing with the US, I can hardly call them "fine". >If you make rules around dismissals stricter then you greatly harm the ability for a company to hire in the first place. Please stop parroting the propaganda of the conservative party (ÖVP) who are bought and paid for by the business elite and would glad…

[deleted]

Re: Dutch employee fired by U.S. firm for shutting off webcam awarded €75K in court

#70

Post by ep103 »

legulere wrote: post #49
theow7384iri wrote: post #6

Home is not owned by employer. So for this type of surveillance employer should get consent from all inhabitants.

It's very easy to see that such a consent cannot be given freely, only coerced.

It's very easy to see that most of capital-labor relations fall into this category.
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