[davismwfl]

In addition to Timezone and Payroll legalities, a number of companies are worried about IP rights too. In the US, the laws are generally understood already by US companies, whereas the legal structure and concepts around IP isn't as clear cut when you employ someone in say Brazil, China or India etc.

Not that any of those Countries are bad, but the complexity for a smaller business that doesn't already have a footprint in that Country is pretty high. For a company that already has a footprint in another Country and may already have formed their own corporation there as a subsidiary then the barrier is far less with respect to Payroll and IP type issues.

Another point, a company in CA that employs a person in say Kansas, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Wyoming etc, will find they can pay people well but still save a significant amount of money over hiring locally. All while having employees close to the same timezone and without any other barriers to overcome. Not to mention a west coast company having east coast employees can help with support and overlap, like wise if you reverse it.

[x0x0]

Cultural issues too. Wait until someone from a country with a different view on women in the workplace shares topless pics of his gf on the engineering slack channel. Or sends engineering candidates a coding test that shows a picture of a naked woman (in ascii, but def naked). You'll get to have all sorts of fun with HR and your lawyer.

[nraynaud]

I went on the French Hired.com yesterday, and asking me my race is simply illegal here, and having as option stuff like 'native american form Hawaii' (from memory, it was in french, making even less sense) did not really feel culturally sensitive. On the other hand, having my boss commenting on the look of a female engineer in the lunch room did not really make me feel good.

edit: but I would say that the american culture is shouted so loudly at the rest of the world that it's not really an issue in this direction.

[toomuchtodo]

In the US, asking your race is allowed (but optional for you to complete) for reporting employment statistics.

[dragonwriter]

In the US, asking just about anything is allowed. Certain information is generally unlawful to use in hiring decisions; though, so if you do ask it and don't fall into one of the exceptions where it is allowed to hire based on it, you probably want to both say up front and be able to demonstrate by evidence when challenged in court that it is (1) used for some specific purpose other than hiring decisions, and (2) separated from the identifying information after receipt so that it could not be used for hiring decisions even if those making that decision wanted to.

There is a popular myth that the things that are illegal to use in hiring decisions are illegal to ask, which isn't true (this probably comes as a slight distortion from managers receiving legal advice that those things should not be asked because asking them increases the risk to the company, which is true not because they are illegal to ask, but because asking produces the risk that a jury will believe a charge that they were used in hiring decisions.)