[ndheebebe]

> Also that WP Engine was not actually providing WordPress because they were limiting a single resource-heavy feature. As if WordPress.com hasn’t been going even further in providing a limited WordPress experience since the beginning.

I was thinking the same thing!

> This means that many of the people who work for Automattic are technically external contractors despite acting on behalf of the company, holding business cards with the company logo or conducting WordCamp talks on behalf of the company. (Which rendered legal action about what I endured as good as impossible, as I did not have any rights as an actual employee and my contract was with Automattic in California, under US law.)

Many countries use duck tests for employment both for taxation and employment law. Does it quack like employment? Are you given instructions? Are you forbidden from subcontracting? Is there a fixed hourly rate? Are you required to work set hours? Etc.

And possibly human rights based law would pierce both anyway. For example you can be discriminated against as a customer in a shop and sue.

[aldavigdis]

Author here. The US/CA statues of limitations are also extremely short compared to what I am used to, so I was too late for to perform any legal action over this stateside after I recovered somewhat from all of this. (There may be a way to go against the EU subsidiaries, but I'm not doing it alone.)

(Anyway. Matt. If you're reading this, then I've seen you've been very generous with your checkbook for the past couple of weeks. I am open to burying the axe to a certain extent but that would require paying for estimated unpaid overtime and on-call hours, providing proper compensation for keeping me for almost a year on a trialmattician contract and destroying my mental and financial well-being among other things. You know how to find me. If not, I'll see you in Brussels.)

[ndheebebe]

Sorry to hear that (about the mental and financial health). Hope it gets better.

Appreciate the reply! I also commented more for the general readership of HN.

Rights are kept by exercising them.

You rarely want to go to court (maybe 0.001 times per lifetime) but just indicating you know your rights goes a long way. Read your country's laws - there are probably friendly descriptions online.

Ideally work somewhere where this is not needed though.

For example if the company is hostile to basic things like if you country has sick leave and you take it and it is an issue then I would say move on quickly. Unless you are happy. Maybe they are paying a lot or you are a founder, that would be different.

So know your rights. Understand a contract is subject to wider laws and some conditions may be severed and unenforcable.

Really. If I had to choose learn Rust or learn some law. Learn some law.

IANAL, but a citizen, which is the point!

[aldavigdis]

I love it when a non-lawyer mansplains contract law to me. Do you want my number too?

Do you think I'm fucking stupid?

[GraemeMeyer]

I think ndheebebe was trying to support you and provide some information and encouragement to other readers and commenters.

This is a bizarre overreaction that does you no favours.

[aldavigdis]

I'm sorry. I will never get married with this demeanour.