I am not a fan of how he uses 'Europe' when he often means Spain and France. He clearly lacks an experience with Nordic countries (i.e. Scandinavia + Finland and Iceland), because a lot of what he says does not apply here.
Working overtime is perfectly legal in Denmark for instance, if the employees prefer it (forcing them can be illegal). The reason is that in Denmark (and other Nordic countries), labour regulations are not enforced by law, but by negotiations between the employees (unions) and employers.
Denmark doesn't even have a minimum wage law, for instance!
Also here; it is not incredibly difficult to fire people. But as an employer, you need a good reason, or the courts will side with the employee and it'll cost you dearly. The advantage of this system is that it makes employers more keen on hiring people, because in the trial period (usually first 3 months), firing people is more easy than usual.
European countries are very different, and Americans seem to forget that. He does mention that they are, but it seems that even to him he doesn't realise the actual difference.
Also the thing about lawyers being cheap is accurate, but this is because in Europe (except the UK and Ireland), we use a Civil Law system, whereas the US (whom borrowed it from the UK) uses a Common Law system.
The basic difference is that in a Civil Law system 'the law is the law'; court rules cannot change law practice. In addition, you cannot use previous court decisions to argue in a court of law. You can use them as guidelines, but nothing more.
This means that it is quite easy for most people to understand how the law works; just look at the law text and the text's comments (which are also important when interpreting the law, i.e. understanding what the intent with the law is).
There are different Civil Law systems though. Some, based on Roman law, is very focused on the letter of the law while others like the Scandinavian law system are focused on the intention behind the laws.
I'm really not sure what's the state of the art on verdict libraries is (or how it was done before), but as always I suppose most impacting results are more divulged.
But believe me "just the law book" is not as easy as it sounds.
> ... whereas the US (whom borrowed it from the UK) uses a Common Law system.
The state of Louisiana was inspired by the Napoleonic Code: juries there decide both facts and law. Precedent is not worshipped like it is in the rest of the U.S.
> I am not a fan of how he uses 'Europe' when he often means Spain and France.
And even then, he tends to be more wrong than right (overtime isn't illegal in France, as far as I know, although mandatory overtime is; and depending on the status of the employees overtime pay may or may not exist: broadly-speaking blue-collar workers are on the clock and paid overtime, white-collar workers are on "260 days" contrats an won't get paid extra if they work 20h/day of their own volition. They'll likely have to get paid (or get extra time off) if they have to work more than 5 days a week or during holidays)
> Also here; it is not incredibly difficult to fire people. But as an employer, you need a good reason
And there usually is a delay of some sort, although in tech it can often be waived through mutual agreement.
> the trial period (usually first 3 months)
Which, depending on the country, can be renewed once.
> firing people is more easy than usual.
Trial period is essentially equivalent to "right to work" US states: either side can terminate employment at will.
Working overtime is perfectly legal in Denmark for instance, if the employees prefer it (forcing them can be illegal). The reason is that in Denmark (and other Nordic countries), labour regulations are not enforced by law, but by negotiations between the employees (unions) and employers.
Denmark doesn't even have a minimum wage law, for instance!
Also here; it is not incredibly difficult to fire people. But as an employer, you need a good reason, or the courts will side with the employee and it'll cost you dearly. The advantage of this system is that it makes employers more keen on hiring people, because in the trial period (usually first 3 months), firing people is more easy than usual.
European countries are very different, and Americans seem to forget that. He does mention that they are, but it seems that even to him he doesn't realise the actual difference.