The same applies to absolutely all employee protections, right? Rather than providing paid holiday, paying overheads like social security, and following other

The same applies to absolutely all employee protections, right? Rather than providing paid holiday, paying overheads like social security, and following other anti-discrimination laws, you could always hire your local workers as non-employee contractors via a foreign jurisdiction. Most companies don't, for lots of good reasons. Remote work makes such tricks a little easier, but not dramatically so.