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Comment by jorlow | Hacker News Reader

Much of the discussion is philosophical about commutes and keeping an eye on kids while wfh. But those issues aren't new.

What's egregious to me is companies committing to something which has major life and financial implications to the people that work there and then pulling the rug out.

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Yeah that's the most interesting thing for me as well. I'm also curious about how wfh was granted and then removed: was there a contract change to guarantee it? Or did they simply "promise" to do so? If there was a contractual change to guarantee wfh, can they make another change and remove it just like that?

I've learned the hard way to never organize my life around benefits that are "promised" but not in my contract. This here is exactly what happens every single time: the person who made you the promise leaves the company and the promise goes along with them.

What are these "contracts" you're referring to? I've worked full time in tech for 25 years and I've never had a contract of any sort that I'm aware of.

you can have it written in your contract that you work from home. in some countries it's necessary to pay taxes differently, for example.

I think the disconnect is that in Europe employment contracts spell out a lot. In the U.S. they are really don't cover a lot about how you work. The common phrase in the U.S. is "additional tasks and duties as required", which could mean anything.

I've had four employment contracts in Europe (3x EU, 1x CH) and all included that clause

Most US workers aren't under an employment contract, it's at-will in both directions. That said, everything is negotiable, and if one is sufficiently motivated and has the leverage, an employment agreement can be crafted even without jeopardizing the at-will relationship.

How is removing WFH different than say, a layoff? Both promised things early, something that employees build a life and expectations around. A layoff is announced, employees are impacted. Does that mean employers should never do layoffs?

Layoffs typically come with severance for this reason.

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