> Our bootstrapped startup almost went under because of employee benefit payments for people who were not even showing up to work and we cannot fire by law
That’s unfortunate but that’s what you need to handle if you are an employer. You know the rules when you start a company and when you hire someone. There are some exceptions in place for smaller employees too.
Competition means that successful companies that survive are those that manage to cope with such terrifying things as employees going on parental leave.
I’m not sure how you ended up managing a company with several employees while seeming surprised by the labor laws in the countries where it operates?
I don't think they wrote they were "surprised" or that they didn't handle these laws or the situations caused by them. The author just wrote that those laws are very difficult for business and are not as "entrepreneur-friendly" as advertised by these "Sweden does _____" articles.
> That’s unfortunate but that’s what you need to handle if you are an employer.
100%, and we managed because I had taken into account all of that stuff. But people cant claim that this place is great for business while exposing startups to these massive risks.
> I’m not sure how you ended up managing a company with several employees while seeming surprised by the labor laws in the countries where it operates?
Plenty of these laws came to me personally as a shock because it isn´t really easy to know all of your obligations ahead of time especially when there are thousands of things to take into account.
It saddens me to say this but every time I hire someone I have to put aside 125% of their salary aside for both employer taxes as well as a "rainy day fund". Imagine claiming that such a place is business friendly. That´s my beef, nothing else.
> every time I hire someone I have to put aside 125% of their salary aside
You can't answer if that is unreasonable unless you compare to other countries. As an example, in the US you would have to also pay for health insurance. And if the employee were to get sick they might still not see a doctor immediately because of the premiums, leading to further time off.
That’s unfortunate but that’s what you need to handle if you are an employer. You know the rules when you start a company and when you hire someone. There are some exceptions in place for smaller employees too.
Competition means that successful companies that survive are those that manage to cope with such terrifying things as employees going on parental leave.
I’m not sure how you ended up managing a company with several employees while seeming surprised by the labor laws in the countries where it operates?