Does anyone else find a bit odd to phrase basic labour rights as ‘perks’?
Europeans probably. Americans be like 😲
“nobody asked me questions during my maternity leave”
Yeah. Because it’s the fricking law both in Germany as well as Austria. Her boss would be in hot water. 1800€ fine per case (means per question) up to 3600€ for repeat offenders. It does not change a thing if the mother offered it or not.
The Austrians are actually quite lenient with that. German law gives fines up to 30.000€ and in cases that are seen as endangerment of the child up to one year of prison.
We seriously do not fuck around with that here.
(The same goes for vacations)
us could have this too, if you had strong unions among other things.
You mean communism?
Edit: /s because it seems it wasnt obvious enough
Looking around at the current political environment, I’ll take a little of that Communism, or at least the Socialist flavor.
Jesus fucking christ. How is an union communist? Lol do unions advocate that all workers should be equally owners? Do you even know what a union or communism is? What a stupid brainwashing shit have you guys been suffering?
Wow chill I was being sarcastic. Thought it was obvious enough but seems Lemmy isnt so different from reddit after all, the /s is always needed.
I’ve noticed that too. A bunch of people on here act all high and mighty, feeling their better that those lowly reddit users, but from my experience the people are really not that different. Maybe a higher percentage of linux users and star trek fans for some reason. I suspect the intersection of the two is quite large.
The US Labor Laws are complete shit. Period!
Sorry, my US Friends. We’re just too left on working issues, mostly.
They don’t understand what you said, you should have used the word woke
Fucking communist europe, respecting women a tiny little bit more than not at all.
Archive link: https://archive.is/tiaLg
Forgot, sorry.
As an aside, it’s always both a bit funny and bewildering how even the more reputable American media talk about Europe as if it were just one thing, so that, for instance, this article specifies it to Austria only several paragraphs into the text.
What? Europe isn’t a country?
Not yet. Seeing as things are going with the rise of the far right, probably not for quite a while.
It sort of makes sense - in many ways the EU is more like the USA than any one individual European country is. American states have a similar variety of laws, and are quite culturally variable too (certainly much more homogenous than European cultures though).
Europe is also Russia, though. Surely, they can at least tell the difference between EU and Russia?
Perks? You mean the way of life?
Perks (US En) = basic (and not even always functioning) labour protection
The funny thing is that if you live in Europe and work for a US company, you also get the European perks. I really don’t understand why more Americans don’t move here
paywall
www.businessinsider.com Working remotely for a European company as an American: My review Charissa Cheong 8 - 10 minutes I landed a remote job for a European company, and now I’d find it hard to go back to a US-based company — I feel spoiled by the perks
Left: Meghan Gezo in her home office in Michigan; Right: A view of the buildings in Linz, Austria Meghan Gezo said working for a European company has helped expand her HR knowledge. Taylor Shock; Westend61/Getty Images
Jun 7, 2025, 11:32 AM GMT+2
Meghan Gezo works for a European company from her home in Michigan. She loves the benefits of European working culture, from the hours to the vacation time norms. Having experienced these perks, Gezo said she'd find it hard to work for a US-based company again.This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with 34-year-old Meghan Gezo, from Michigan. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
In 2022, I left my job working remotely in people operations for a US company. Juggling my job and raising my one-year-old wasn’t working.
I wanted to take a break while I looked for another opportunity that would allow me to have better work-life boundaries.
Companies use Trump’s executive order as a loophole to fast-track commercial seafloor mining
After a few months of job hunting, I started as a people experience manager at Storyblok, a fully remote content management company based in Austria.
I’d never worked for a company based in Europe before. Living in the US, most jobs that pop up are US-based.
People have come to expect more work-life balance in Europe, as the employment laws differ from the US. For me, there have been perks related to my life as a parent, my working hours, and my professional growth. I was immediately drawn to the benefits of working for a European company
I’ve been working in remote jobs for tech companies since 2016.
I’d previously worked in an office, but thought a remote job meant I could focus on higher-impact work than the office administration that usually fell to HR, as well as branch out beyond the manufacturing and automotive industry jobs in my area.
It was easier to find a remote job in 2022 than in 2016. I found the listing for Storyblok on a job board. The people I spoke with were genuine and direct. In the first interview, they talked about time off norms and said the standard workweek is 38.5 hours. They seemed to emphasize work-life balance and gave me concrete examples of how it worked at the company.
I was optimistic I could be successful in the role while staying involved in my daughter’s life.
In the US, the norm on paper is a 40-hour workweek, but in practice, people often work until they finish their tasks, especially in tech. I used to work, feed my daughter, put her to bed, and then work some more. It felt normal.
At my current company, you focus on work when you’re at work and then log off until the next day. There have definitely been times when I’ve had to work extra hours, but overall, I’d say that my work-life balance is better.
In the US, it can often feel that your work is your identity. My European colleagues take pride in their work and are extremely hard workers, but their job is one facet of their identity. Working for a European company has pushed me in new ways
I’ve gained experience working with people from other cultures. Learning about Austrian law has also pushed me to expand my HR knowledge beyond US employment law.
One thing I’ve noticed about the company culture is that when people are on vacation, they’re on vacation. Meanwhile, it’s more the norm in the US to answer messages on vacation. I’ve not completely broken this habit, but it has felt more attainable for me to delete work communication apps from my phone when I’m away. I’ve felt very supported in my role as a parent at my European company
The Austrian norm of “care leave,” which isn’t a norm in the US, is a great part of working for a European company. Because I have kids under a certain age, I get to use two paid weeks off a year for days when my kids are sick and I need to take them to a doctor or take care of them. Having this bucket to pull from is a huge weight off my shoulders as a parent.
My previous employers had generous parental leave policies. However, at Storyblok, I got slightly more time — 16 weeks.
I went on maternity leave at a previous company with my firstborn and again at my current job in 2023. During my most recent maternity leave, people in the company treated it very seriously. I got a lot of support from my manager and team to help plan for my leave and assign my tasks to others.
During my first maternity leave for a previous company, I didn’t mind answering a few questions as needed to support my team, but at Storyblok, no one asked me work-related questions while I was away. There are some downsides
While my working hours suit my season of life, there are days when I wish I could start later at 9 a.m. However, I don’t think I’d be as effective without overlap with my European colleagues. Right now, I work 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET.
Sometimes, if I have a question I want to ask colleagues in Europe during my afternoons, I’ll know that I won’t be getting an answer until the next day because of the time zone difference. I’ve learned to work these expectations into my regular workflow.
It does make me sad that I don’t live near my colleagues. I’ve built strong relationships with these people, but they’re an ocean away. I’d find it hard to go back to a US-based company
Working for a European company didn’t occur to me as an option before I interviewed for this job. Having worked here for over two years, I feel spoiled by the benefits and perks of European working culture, and it would be hard for me to go back to working for a US-based company.
Do you have a story to share about remote work? Contact this reporter at ccheong@businessinsider.com
as told to Europe Remote Work MoreRead next
Thank you very much.
Labor is usually compensated by money.
I hope she finds the strength to leave the US and find a job and home outside of the US. The jobs in the USA are mostly exploitative - not surprising with the labor laws as weak as they are.
If I got a job in Europe… at this point, I’d just move to Europe.
Easier said than done, most of europe is currently governed by the far right (or ‘conservative’ and ‘social democratic’ parties that copy a lot of the far right’s policies). US citizens will generally have an easier time immigrating than e.g. Syrian citizens, but the anti-immigration policies still hurt everyone.
Wtf are you on about? There are a handful of hard right govts in Europe currently, but the majority of Europe is not, in fact by US standards you’d probably consider most parties here left wing (the US Democrats would be considered a right wing party here lol)
Immigration is also quite easy for an American, definitely easier than if you’re from the middle-east. If you’re capable of getting a qualified/skilled job or studying you can generally stay as long as you want in most places, and native English speakers are in demand.
Do you really believe that someone like Friedrich Merz, who is pretty much the norm for EU government leaders at this point, is more progressive than a Joe Biden or Kamala Harris? The guy literally got elected with an anti-immigration campaign.
CDU is center right by normal terms, so no, Merz as an individual is likely not more progressive than Biden or Harris. But because the existing systems that Biden, Harris, and Merz occupy are radically different, the ultimate effect of their politics isn’t decided exclusively by some meter of how progressive they are.
Anti-immigration vis-a-vis Germany is very different to anti-immigration vis-a-vis the US, for example.(edit: bad example)What I mean to say is that a conservative led government in Europe, such as Germany under Merz, will still be much, much more progressive than a progressive led government in the US (i.e. hypothetically Harris with dems controlling the house and senate). This is because progressive issues like gun control and healthcare are unrealistic dreams even for Dems in the US, while they are established policy in Germany, that even Merz will not change.
So while you are right that Harris and Biden are, as individuals, more progressive than Merz, I think that in the grand scheme of things this does not show itself in the governments that they would run. This is also often what is meant with “Europe’s Right is America’s Left.”
Edit: Merz, not März; thanks for the correction.
Thanks, you said what I wanted to say but better. Let’s not forget that CDU have been in power for the majority of the time for decades, and Germany is far left of the USA despite Democrats being in power for roughly half that same time. So the proof is in the pudding, so to speak
FYI, it’s Merz, not März.
I disagree with that. Specifically for immigration, a Democrats-led USA is much more immigration-friendly (at least in places where MAGAs are not the majority) than Germany (and probably many if not most other EU-countries) ever was, both in terms of policy and in terms of how welcoming the population is.
Ah you may be right vis-a-vis immigration. Germany is not the most inviting place…
And I knew I shouldn’t have trusted my autocorrect on März! Goddamn you Google keyboard shakes fist at sky
German people are just generally not very open to talking to strangers in general, so making friends with them takes a while. But there are so many expats here that you can easily make friends with instead so it’s not bad really
I’ve lived in both Germany and the USA (very blue state) and strongly disagree with this. It’s incredibly easy and cheap to immigrate to Germany and you get the same rights as any European, in the USA you have to jump through a million hoops and constantly fight for the right to stay, you can get ejected so easily
I think it’s actually pretty debatable. Merz is left of Biden on some big issues, like being in favour of universal health care, and supporting unions and workers rights. One could argue that Biden is left of Merz on immigration and climate action but Germany is soooo far left of the USA there and so both of them are just pushing back towards a mid point, I very much doubt a USA under Biden would ever catch up to a Germany under Merz on those issues
Merz is left of Biden on some big issues, like being in favour of universal health care, and supporting unions and workers rights.
That’s debatable. Merz clearly wants to weaken worker’s rights and unions, and he doesn’t exactly want to expand access to health services, either (the German health sector is quite troubled in many ways and the anti-immigration policies really don’t help). His public stance on those issues is limited because of somewhat more progressive forces in his party and the established state of things in Germany, if he had free reign he would act quite differently.
Ah yes. Anything to the right of communism is far right.
If you honestly believe that there’s anything progressive about Labour under Keir Starmer or the German SPD, I got a bridge to sell.
So now not being progressive is far right. Also there’s 2 countries in the EU. Got it.
I said that they’re copying many far right policies, not that they are far right themselves.
Fucking immigrants from third world countries taking our jobs /s
Imagine if you landed a job in Europe from a European company. You’d definitely not be able to go back
