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Unfortunately, this book does not address any of the complicated legal logistics aboute remote work (setting up multiple companies abroad like GitLab has done,

Unfortunately, this book does not address any of the complicated legal logistics aboute remote work (setting up multiple companies abroad like GitLab has done, hiring contractors, giving stock and stock options to people around the world, benefits, exclusivity, etc.). I haven't read a lot about this online but I know it's one of the problems with remote work.

mikro2nd 8y ago
I'd guess that the whole arena is just so complicated and idiosyncratic that it's basically impossible to generalise the way you'd need to for a book. Details/legalities are going to vary depending on where your company is registered, where your nominal "offices" are (some/most legal jurisdictions still insist on the fiction of a registered office, even though the whole point is to work completely decentralised) and where you're hiring people. So a book/website/wiki/whatever covering all the legal, tax, compensation, worker rights, healthcare, etc., etc. for all the combinatoric possibilities seems unlikely. A high bar and of limited value, since the rules are in any case shifting all the time. So it ends up roughly where we are, with each company hacking through the specific cases that cross their paths with their respective lawyers and accountants. In this regard, the one thing I have seen is that most Remote First/Only companies I've tripped across seem to throw the questions of healthcare, home office allowances and even income taxes over to the employees... it's already too complicated for them to deal with unless they severely limit the number of countries they'll hire from.
- m0zg 8y ago
  I mean, healthcare is OK to throw to employees, IMO, provided the employer is willing to pay more to compensate the employee. It's not a difficult thing to procure. I've had my own insurance for over a year, and yes, it's pretty expensive, but if I were someone else's employee and my employer covered a half or 2/3rds of the cost, I'd be pretty happy. The cognitive overhead is about the same: you just review your cost increases at the end of the year and sigh.

mikro2nd 8y ago

I'd guess that the whole arena is just so complicated and idiosyncratic that it's basically impossible to generalise the way you'd need to for a book. Details/legalities are going to vary depending on where your company is registered, where your nominal "offices" are (some/most legal jurisdictions still insist on the fiction of a registered office, even though the whole point is to work completely decentralised) and where you're hiring people. So a book/website/wiki/whatever covering all the legal, tax, compensation, worker rights, healthcare, etc., etc. for all the combinatoric possibilities seems unlikely. A high bar and of limited value, since the rules are in any case shifting all the time. So it ends up roughly where we are, with each company hacking through the specific cases that cross their paths with their respective lawyers and accountants. In this regard, the one thing I have seen is that most Remote First/Only companies I've tripped across seem to throw the questions of healthcare, home office allowances and even income taxes over to the employees... it's already too complicated for them to deal with unless they severely limit the number of countries they'll hire from.

m0zg 8y ago
I mean, healthcare is OK to throw to employees, IMO, provided the employer is willing to pay more to compensate the employee. It's not a difficult thing to procure. I've had my own insurance for over a year, and yes, it's pretty expensive, but if I were someone else's employee and my employer covered a half or 2/3rds of the cost, I'd be pretty happy. The cognitive overhead is about the same: you just review your cost increases at the end of the year and sigh.