[adastra22]

> My god 2 weeks lol, someone quits and he is gone the next day. How is this legal?

How is it legal for this not to be the case? We have constitutional laws against enslavement or indentured servitude here. Nobody can force you to work if you don’t want to. You can quit right now if you want to.

What happens if you stop showing up to work in Switzerland? Do you go to prison?

[bolanyo]

What happens in Europe if you're supposed to work out 3 months notice and you stop showing up:

- you stop getting paid. - you probably will have a hard time dealing with your former employers if you need something from them. - they think you're a dick, and tell other people, if asked, what an asshole you are. - potentially if they have nothing better to do, they get a lawyer to write you a threatening letter, then do nothing.

[adastra22]

So exactly the same thing, except for the threatening letter (the lawyer would tell you there's no grounds for it).

[henry2023]

"and tell other people"

Nobody cares enough to go tell other people. Just try to picture the super awkward conversation between executives about and IC who resigned and then did noting during the notice period. In fact, they'd probably do the same.

[bolanyo]

"if asked"

[Leherenn]

I have never understood this "slavery" argument. It's not enslavement, it's fulfilling a contract. They won't put you in jail if you don't show up, you're simply in breach of contract.

It's like if you're a freelance and you accept a project. They can't force you to work on the project until completed, but they can certainly levy financial penalties against you if you don't.

[adastra22]

> They can't force you to work on the project until completed, but they can certainly levy financial penalties against you if you don't.

There are very few circumstances in the US in which an employer can do that. It is considered wage theft, which in many states is a criminal offense that pierces the corporate veil. If you worked hours you get paid for those hours and the company can't avoid paying you (with fees or whatnot).

If you are forced to work because if you don't then you will be fined for breach of contract, then that is indentured servitude with extra steps. That is illegal everywhere in the US after the 13th amendment. That's why in the US employment contracts are generally enforced with rewards (aka golden handcuffs) rather than punishments.

[Leherenn]

Does that mean that any contracted work is indentured servitude? That sounds really broad. If I hire you to build a website, and you bail out halfway through and the liquidated damage clause kicks in, I don't think that makes you my indentured servant.

I was most likely confusing with "financial penalties", mostly it means not paying you after you stop working, and in some specific circumstances you can sue for damages. They can't fine you.

[adastra22]

There generally aren’t financial penalties of any sort in those cases, except that you just don’t get paid the full potential value of the contract. You are generally paid hourly for the work that you do in a freelance gig (if it is an hourly contract) and paid a bonus on completion. If you fail to complete there is no bonus. Or in the case of a fixed price contract you are given a small amount upfront, and the full payment upon completion. You are never penalized for breaking contract—-you just don’t get paid the final amount.

[notch898c]

You can be held in contempt for leaving your job in the US.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/24/us/thedacare-lawsuit-wisc...

[bolanyo]

To be fair, this is Wisconsin. The judge is probably the guy that runs the hospital's brother-in-law.

[adastra22]

Uh, your link seems to be about the judge ruling that the workers can't be prevented from leaving their job.

[notch898c]

If I sent you a link about a person's funeral to show a person had been born, would you not accept that either? The article is about the funeral of the order.

[adastra22]

The workers were not held in contempt though.

[notch898c]

What do you think happens if you violate a court order? That's the threat behind violating the order of a judge. That it didn't happen doesn't mean my statement was incorrect. If they had actually left in contempt of the order, I would have said it did happen rather than it can happen.