Comment by ralmidani | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ralmidani | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

Yeah, they passed that already in the Netherlands.

I think the Netherlands doesn’t stipulates a disability. And honestly, there are reasons other than disabilities and neurodivergence; some people are caregivers, or have young kids, or have a nice home office setup (which a lot of the same companies “flexing” as you put it will never match in the office), or they just don’t want to waste money and time commuting.

I believe if the job can be done remotely, it should be a worker’s right. No hassle, no questions asked, and no retaliation or discrimination.

However, I’m not sure where you’re located, but I’m not holding my breath for meaningful workers’ rights legislation in the US any time soon.

> some people are caregivers, or have young kids

Yes, there are many such reasons one would prefer to be at home that have nothing to do with the individual's physiology/neurology. But as you guess, I'm located in the US. Disability is a rapier with which to sharply defend oneself against predation, not something our work-worshiping society actually cares about. Having responsibilities outside of work which aren't due to legally protected disability is widely considered unimportant, a distraction, or a liability.

I get it, I am neurodivergent myself. But I don’t think you need to have a certain disability or neurodivergence to be protected from predatory employers or potential employers. Of course, being in the US I also understand your realism.

One of the reasons I decided to return to entrepreneurship is to be able to have a flexible schedule, maybe not work at all on days when I just don’t feel like it, and generally avoid work-worshiping (great terminology!)

To your larger point, I learned recently that the Family Medical Leave Act does not apply to grandchildren under your care, even if the parents are dead or for whaterver reason cannot be caregivers. Like, how awful is that?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com