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Ok. I have been hacking in startups for 10 years or so. A few rules to note. 1) Startups almost always fail. Pretty much assume at any point you can be let

Ok. I have been hacking in startups for 10 years or so. A few rules to note. 1) Startups almost always fail. Pretty much assume at any point you can be let go for any reason. If you can't afford to blow 3 months of salary and be paid in "promise" - don't do it. 2) Startups are not for everyone. Enjoy good code? Like a peaceful atmosphere? Need comments? Love structure and strategy? Welp - you will fail at a startup. In my 10 years: startups are trench warfare with company ending deadlines. As an exercise: Try borrowing money from your best friend and not paying it back. 3) Legal. You are going to sue a former employer? What a great way of ruining your future. Future employers will avoid you like the plague. Try starting a board meeting with: "Our newest employee is in a legal battle with their former employer...".

davidw 12y ago
> Future employers will avoid you like the plague. What do they know about it, outside of cases that actually end up in the news?
prawn 12y ago
"Legal. You are going to sue a former employer? What a great way of ruining your future." Could say the same thing to Unbabel if this story is as OP has written it up. Not going to pay out the contract? What a great way of ruining your future. Future employees will avoid you like the plague.
- morgante 12y ago
  > Could say the same thing to Unbabel if this story is as OP has written it up. Not going to pay out the contract? What a great way of ruining your future. Future employees will avoid you like the plague. Yup. Neither party comes out looking good from this.
  - rtpg 12y ago
    I have a hard time conjuring up much sympathy for Unbabel in this situation. Work is work, and this person has come to one of the only recourses. Also, informing the community that a company doesn't seem to value the work of its employees should be valued.
    - morgante 12y ago
      > Work is work I agree, but in what way is Unbabel not compensating for the work actually done? They just prematurely said no more work would be done for them.
      - prawn 12y ago
        Depends how you're defining work. There's work (production at the desk) and there's work (moving to take up a job, social life with colleagues, all the decisions that come with employment). As a very small scale employer, I feel responsible for my employee(s). They depend on me for rent payments, mortgages, savings and so on. I think that responsibility extends further for someone moving country to join your company. I think retaining enough savings to stay fed is on the employee and don't buy that likely exaggeration, but with early termination like this, I think an employer should be looking to accommodate a foreign employee where they can, at least provide a bit more warning or mediation.
DanBC 12y ago
> 3) Legal. You are going to sue a former employer? What a great way of ruining your future. Future employers will avoid you like the plague. That's weird. I would have thought that firms would prefer ex-employees to use the courts appropriately to settle disputes, rathar than using blog posts.
VLM 12y ago
"Legal. You are going to sue a former employer? What a great way of ruining your future. Future employers will avoid you like the plague. " And that leads to contracts not being worth the paper they're printed on unless you're independently wealthy, and without any rule of law or justice, the system goes down the tubes.
- andreasgonewild 12y ago
  Exactly, this is more about not wanting to live in a world where corporations can get away with behaving like this. I'm not worried, I know my shit and I'm sure there are others out there like me.
ownagefool 12y ago
Contractors, freelancers and businesses get stiffed on what they're owed on a semi-regular basis. You pretty much have to take legal action sometimes to get your money and there is no business worth working for that'll look negatively at you for going after monies owed. That said, even if he had a "3 Months Contract" there's probably a release stipulation with a notice period. As long as he's got paid that, there's no legal recourse.

davidw 12y ago

> Future employers will avoid you like the plague. What do they know about it, outside of cases that actually end up in the news?

prawn 12y ago

"Legal. You are going to sue a former employer? What a great way of ruining your future." Could say the same thing to Unbabel if this story is as OP has written it up. Not going to pay out the contract? What a great way of ruining your future. Future employees will avoid you like the plague.

morgante 12y ago
> Could say the same thing to Unbabel if this story is as OP has written it up. Not going to pay out the contract? What a great way of ruining your future. Future employees will avoid you like the plague. Yup. Neither party comes out looking good from this.
- rtpg 12y ago
  I have a hard time conjuring up much sympathy for Unbabel in this situation. Work is work, and this person has come to one of the only recourses. Also, informing the community that a company doesn't seem to value the work of its employees should be valued.
  - morgante 12y ago
    > Work is work I agree, but in what way is Unbabel not compensating for the work actually done? They just prematurely said no more work would be done for them.
    - prawn 12y ago
      Depends how you're defining work. There's work (production at the desk) and there's work (moving to take up a job, social life with colleagues, all the decisions that come with employment). As a very small scale employer, I feel responsible for my employee(s). They depend on me for rent payments, mortgages, savings and so on. I think that responsibility extends further for someone moving country to join your company. I think retaining enough savings to stay fed is on the employee and don't buy that likely exaggeration, but with early termination like this, I think an employer should be looking to accommodate a foreign employee where they can, at least provide a bit more warning or mediation.

DanBC 12y ago

> 3) Legal. You are going to sue a former employer? What a great way of ruining your future. Future employers will avoid you like the plague. That's weird. I would have thought that firms would prefer ex-employees to use the courts appropriately to settle disputes, rathar than using blog posts.

VLM 12y ago

"Legal. You are going to sue a former employer? What a great way of ruining your future. Future employers will avoid you like the plague. " And that leads to contracts not being worth the paper they're printed on unless you're independently wealthy, and without any rule of law or justice, the system goes down the tubes.

andreasgonewild 12y ago
Exactly, this is more about not wanting to live in a world where corporations can get away with behaving like this. I'm not worried, I know my shit and I'm sure there are others out there like me.

ownagefool 12y ago

Contractors, freelancers and businesses get stiffed on what they're owed on a semi-regular basis. You pretty much have to take legal action sometimes to get your money and there is no business worth working for that'll look negatively at you for going after monies owed. That said, even if he had a "3 Months Contract" there's probably a release stipulation with a notice period. As long as he's got paid that, there's no legal recourse.