Interesting Links for 16-09-2022

[andrewducker]

1. SNP reprimands MSP John Mason over anti-abortion protest

(tags:abortion snp scotland politics )

2. Some WFH Employees Have a Secret: They Now Live in Another Country

(tags:work location homes )

3. The Follower - Using open cameras and AI to find how an Instagram photo is taken.

(tags:photos ai cameras surveillance )

4. Some ways the UK has changed during the Queen's 70-year reign

(tags:UK visualisation demographics )

5. How did Tolkien feel about fanfic?

(tags:Tolkien fanfic )

6. The True Story of the Koh-i-Noor Diamond—and Why the British Won't Give It Back

(tags:diamonds india history uk )

Comments

[danieldwilliam]

2) the tax implications of having people working from home abroad are horrible and the health care and social security implications, the export control and data privacy and security implications.

10/10 I would immediately sack an employee if I found out they were doing this.

[andrewducker]

Certainly for any work that needs to be at all secure it couldn't be allowed in any form.

And for any company the tax and health care/social security implications are awful.

[danieldwilliam]

The *surprise* tax implications are unforgivable and unforgiving.

And the health care implications for the staff member might be pretty dire too.

[mtbc]

I'm certainly interested to see what happens with (2) over coming years, I think the Overton window's getting pushed. I've been back in Europe this month but am off to Asia again for a couple more (I simply work nights when I'm there) and, pity they were slow to interview me, I already had three offers, but I was attracted by one US employer who really offered "fully worldwide remote" and I would absolutely prioritize that in my next job search too. I don't mind being paid as a 1099 contractor or whatever, and account for my movements on Form 2555, I have UK and US accounts I can receive into and I have to file US taxes anyway. It helps to, even if remote, volunteer to drop into the office when one is actually in the country.

[andrewducker]

I think that's fine, so long as you're above board, and they're set up for it.

[channelpenguin]

2. The German tax laws make it really hard for companies to offer full worldwide remote, but most offer 1-3 months at a stretch now (I assume that works). I THINK german healthcare payments either drop to a minimum when you are out of the country (at least when out of the EU...). But yes, health and social care is a big issue.

I would sack ANY provably lying employee, this is no different a case to anything else.

[andrewducker]

I definitely agree that lying is a sackable offence. And most companies won't be set up for this kind of thing.

[rmc28]

Yup it's not the working abroad as such, it's the lying.

[fub]

About 2: I'm fully remote too, but there are rules about taxes and social security that will mess up your life (either now or later on, with pensions and stuff) if you're not careful. I think I can work out of the country for up to 90 days.
I actually have in my contract that I work from home (with an address mentioned in the contract itself), so if I just took off and worked from elsewhere, I'd be in breach of contract. I don't think it is reasonable to expect an employer to just let that slide.

[snippy]

2) I have worked in employment law in the US (as a legal secretary) for most of the last 35 years, and this is wildly problematic due to vast differences in mandatory employment laws (such as breaks, lunch hours, and vacation time) and taxes just between different states, let alone another country!

[andrewducker]

Yup!

[anna_wing]

2 https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2021/01/20/bali-deported-american-traveler-promoting-island-lgbt-friendly/4226891001/

More to the point, she had no proper business visa allowing her to work in Indonesia, and she wasn't paying tax, so she was committing multiple criminal offences, and trying to aid and abet other people to do the same. She was very lucky just to be deported.


6 Since most people who owned the Koh-i-Noor before the British seem to also have acquired it by murder and robbery, I'm not certain that their heirs and assigns would have any better claim, either morally or legally.

[lilysea]

I support people remote working but it needs to be set up so that it doesn't create problems for the employer or the employee

From reading Ask A Manager, people in the US working from a different *US STATE* than their employer thinks they are in is a huge legal nightmare...

"Even aside from management concerns with that, not everyone knows that there are legal and tax reasons why an employer might not allow it — if an employer has employees living in a different state, they have business nexus there and may be required to pay taxes in that state, set up workers comp insurance there, and more. So many people relocated during the pandemic without realizing that (or with their companies turning a temporary blind eye to it because of the pandemic) that it’s easy to see how someone could conclude this is a thing people can just go ahead and do now."

https://www.askamanager.org/2021/09/my-employee-relocated-and-didnt-tell-me.html

[cellio]

Yeah, my team lost a very good member some years back because she had to move to a different US state (to take care of an ailing parent) and our corporate overlords wouldn't allow her to move there because of tax stuff (but would have been ok with some other states). It's hugely frustrating, and a lot of people don't know how messy this can get.

As an employee I want to be able to work from anywhere, honestly and openly. I will not consider employers that would require me to relocate. Sneaking around isn't the answer.

6. The True Story of the Koh-i-Noor Diamond—and Why the British Won't Give It Back

[anef]

I do think that all museums (and other repositories) should have the provenance of their problematic items obviously on display.

Re: 6. The True Story of the Koh-i-Noor Diamond—and Why the British Won't Give It Back

[andrewducker]

Agreed. "Where we got it" definitely belongs next to "What is it?"