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A.f.a.i.k. while I am not a lawyer, rule of thumb is anything you do * on your own equipment * on your own time can be considered yours. If you want to be e

A.f.a.i.k. while I am not a lawyer, rule of thumb is anything you do * on your own equipment * on your own time can be considered yours. If you want to be extra sure, maybe consider first switching from employment to consulting? A friend of mine was primarily a consultant in pc-game-marketing space and then he founded a company, slowly building out a product. On the other hand, I get that going for consulting gigs can be daunting, personaly, I prefer the cushy job that is mandated to pay me a salary every month, and to pursue my side-projects, I managed to negotiate a 4 day work-week. In the end the 3 day weekend mostly became a venue for more family time, but I still see it as a more viable future option, than working on a project an hour after my kid is asleep/before she wakes up :D

m12k 7y ago
Note that OP writes that they are from a third world country. That means we don't know which jurisdiction applies, but it's not US or anywhere in Europe. So IP and labor laws may be very different from what we would consider normal or fair.
- lawnchair 7y ago
  Ireland, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and Yugoslavia are all third-world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World
  - a-saleh 7y ago
    From the position of the ost-block, Ireland, Austria, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland, were definitely considered first-world western countries :-) Yugoslavia is weird. But I would never dare insult somebody from former Yugoslavia by suggesting they are from a third-world country, it would be like asking for a black-eye :D (unless we are friends, and already drunk, then they might suggest it themselves?)
    - throwawayb104b0 7y ago
      They (Yugoslavia) literally founded the Third World with other like-minded countries as an international organization / forum - or lets say: an organization representing the Third World (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Aligned_Movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Aligned_Movement) in 1961 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia on the initiative of Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito. Even before, the self-description as Third World meant non-alignment (see e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandung_Conference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandung_Conference -- though Yugoslavia was not yet part of it in 1955). Before that, the term was coined by Alfred Sauvy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World#Etymology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World#Etymology) for the non-aligned countries, which had not much to say in the world of the Cold War with its big power blocs, despite representing the majority of the world population. Having "Third World" mean "developing country" regardless of alignment with Eastern or Western Bloc came only after the end of the Cold War, as most were indeed developing countries. Regarding the former Yugoslavian countries today: developing/developed? Depends on the country.
  - jchallis 7y ago
    I am willing to bet the OP meant a poor , developing country with a colonial past version of Third-World than member of the Non-Aligned Movement . Most countries in the latter satisfied the former with the exceptions you provided.
- a-saleh 7y ago
  In that case it would really point towards "just be a consultant", where the balance of power can somewhat swing back from the corporation to the person doing the work.
jrib 7y ago
How many hours do you work during the 4 days? What do you generally give up during your negotiations for the 4 days?
- a-saleh 7y ago
  I work 8 hour days. But we have fairly flexible policy and I work at a company where nobody cares, as long as your pull-requests keep comming and you respond on slack :P Everybody just knows that for me, that won't happen friday-sunday. Negotiation looked like this: They: so we would like to hire you,what salary would you have in mind? Me: I'd rather you tell me, but I would especially be open, if I could have only 4 day work-week They, after some back and forth: ok, we would give you X Me: To clarify, X for a 4 day workweek? That sounds good! Them: Ehm, we meant for full week, but no problem with 80% X for 4 day workweek Me: ah, let me think it through Them: we can make it 85% X for 4 day workweek, if that would make it better Me: ok, will let you know ... by friday?
MaxfordAndSons 7y ago
Also not a lawyer, but I would urge more caution - this is overly optimistic advice. A lot of employment contracts in the US claim ownership of all your IP produced on or off the clock, regardless of the equipment used. Whether or not that contractual language is "really legal" is another issue, but practically speaking it may not matter, if determining that means a costly legal battle against your employer.

m12k 7y ago

Note that OP writes that they are from a third world country. That means we don't know which jurisdiction applies, but it's not US or anywhere in Europe. So IP and labor laws may be very different from what we would consider normal or fair.

lawnchair 7y ago
Ireland, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and Yugoslavia are all third-world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World
- a-saleh 7y ago
  From the position of the ost-block, Ireland, Austria, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland, were definitely considered first-world western countries :-) Yugoslavia is weird. But I would never dare insult somebody from former Yugoslavia by suggesting they are from a third-world country, it would be like asking for a black-eye :D (unless we are friends, and already drunk, then they might suggest it themselves?)
  - throwawayb104b0 7y ago
    They (Yugoslavia) literally founded the Third World with other like-minded countries as an international organization / forum - or lets say: an organization representing the Third World (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Aligned_Movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Aligned_Movement) in 1961 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia on the initiative of Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito. Even before, the self-description as Third World meant non-alignment (see e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandung_Conference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandung_Conference -- though Yugoslavia was not yet part of it in 1955). Before that, the term was coined by Alfred Sauvy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World#Etymology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World#Etymology) for the non-aligned countries, which had not much to say in the world of the Cold War with its big power blocs, despite representing the majority of the world population. Having "Third World" mean "developing country" regardless of alignment with Eastern or Western Bloc came only after the end of the Cold War, as most were indeed developing countries. Regarding the former Yugoslavian countries today: developing/developed? Depends on the country.
- jchallis 7y ago
  I am willing to bet the OP meant a poor , developing country with a colonial past version of Third-World than member of the Non-Aligned Movement . Most countries in the latter satisfied the former with the exceptions you provided.
a-saleh 7y ago
In that case it would really point towards "just be a consultant", where the balance of power can somewhat swing back from the corporation to the person doing the work.

jrib 7y ago

How many hours do you work during the 4 days? What do you generally give up during your negotiations for the 4 days?

a-saleh 7y ago
I work 8 hour days. But we have fairly flexible policy and I work at a company where nobody cares, as long as your pull-requests keep comming and you respond on slack :P Everybody just knows that for me, that won't happen friday-sunday. Negotiation looked like this: They: so we would like to hire you,what salary would you have in mind? Me: I'd rather you tell me, but I would especially be open, if I could have only 4 day work-week They, after some back and forth: ok, we would give you X Me: To clarify, X for a 4 day workweek? That sounds good! Them: Ehm, we meant for full week, but no problem with 80% X for 4 day workweek Me: ah, let me think it through Them: we can make it 85% X for 4 day workweek, if that would make it better Me: ok, will let you know ... by friday?

MaxfordAndSons 7y ago

Also not a lawyer, but I would urge more caution - this is overly optimistic advice. A lot of employment contracts in the US claim ownership of all your IP produced on or off the clock, regardless of the equipment used. Whether or not that contractual language is "really legal" is another issue, but practically speaking it may not matter, if determining that means a costly legal battle against your employer.