memfd_secret() in 5.14 [LWN.net]

memfd_secret() in 5.14

Posted Aug 8, 2021 16:07 UTC (Sun) by Wol (subscriber, #4433)
In reply to: memfd_secret() in 5.14 by khim
Parent article: memfd_secret() in 5.14

> > And saying "let us tamper with your computer or get sacked" does not count as informed consent - it's called "unfair dismissal", which can be VERY expensive, let alone the (I believe) 5-year jail sentence that goes along with hacking the employee's personal computer.

> Can you give me the list of companies which were fined for that? And who got the jail sentence?

I'm not aware of any hacking occurring. Because the employee who did it would be liable for the jail sentence. Probably at the employer's expense.

As for fines, it's damages, not fines. It's actually pretty easy to take your employer to an Employment Tribunal. There have been plenty of cases of that. And in a case like this it would be a slam-dunk with serious damages. Unlike in America, in Europe mistreating your employees can really hurt. Employees can easily walk away from cases like this with two or three years salary in damages. To say nothing of the hit the company takes defending the case.

Cheers,
Wik

to post comments

memfd_secret() in 5.14

Posted Aug 8, 2021 16:28 UTC (Sun) by khim (subscriber, #9252) [Link] (1 responses)

> Unlike in America, in Europe mistreating your employees can really hurt

Where do you see “mistreatment”? Nobody forces you to do anything. It's entirely up to you to install VPN (and other company-provided software) or not.

And KPI are objective, too: reaction time, number of closed tickets and so on. If you fail to deliver — why should you get the appropriate bonus? It's not called “bonus” for nothing. You have to earn it.

> Employees can easily walk away from cases like this with two or three years salary in damages. To say nothing of the hit the company takes defending the case.

These are pure words at this point. I have friends both in UK and continental EU and it's really not hard to give people who misbehave 2x-3x less money.

As long as salary is the same and on paper there are no problems Employment Tribunal can do nothing. For added safety you may organize additional income to come in form of dividends or stocks (I don't think you can get stock options in EU, but that's not a big deal if your accountants are proficient enough).

Again: it really feels as if you live in the imaginary world where laws like these are perceived as something to follow and not an obstacle to overcome.

memfd_secret() in 5.14

Posted Aug 21, 2021 0:24 UTC (Sat) by HenrikH (subscriber, #31152) [Link]

How can the salary be both "the same" and "2x-3x less" at the same time?