In many countries, there is no concept of 'at will employment'. It is not surprising that HNers from such countries would be incredulous.
Employment law in Europe, for example, frequently requires the severance terms to be determined at the time the employee is signed up. The employment agreement is a contract, and will be signed by all positions in the firm. In many cases, the severance terms are based on law.
Among other differences, for example, a German President is personally liable for the financial obligations of their company. If the company goes bankrupt, so does he.
Can you provide some references for your claims? Don't know much about Germany but that sounds totally made up as limitation of liability is the key concept behind the invention of companies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesellschaft_mit_beschr%C3%A4n...
I would imagine if a director breaks the law, only then he could be personally liable. And in that case I would imagine Germany does have higher standards than US.
"If the company is in crisis special obligations arise for a managing director the breach of which may lead to a personal liability of the managing director."
So this is quite a bit different and more limited than "If the company goes bankrupt, so does he." and closer to "I would imagine if a director breaks the law, only then he could be personally liable.", for example Adam Neumann might have had problems if WeWork was a German GmbH.
"Among other differences, for example, a German President is personally liable for the financial obligations of their company. If the company goes bankrupt, so does he."
Not really. Directors are not generally held liable for debts incurred by their companies in Germany. However, they can be held liable if they are found to be in breach of their duties as directors. Also, the onus of proof is reversed in some cases (e.g. the director needs to prove he wasn't in breach of his duty).
>Among other differences, for example, a German President is personally liable for the financial obligations of their company. If the company goes bankrupt, so does he.
In US new enterprise have a very high failure rate, how do entrepreneurs survive in such environment?
They are protected by US corporate law. The debts of a corporation are the responsibility of the corporation. A corporation (Inc.) is treated like a person from that perspective. If a corporation runs out of money and cannot pay its debts and declares bankruptcy, the management is under no obligation to cover the debt, and the debt holders are out of luck.
A CEO (and other company execs) can be held personally liable only if there is fraud or other illegal acts. Mismanaging a company, or even simply working hard and not succeeding, are not illegal.
American firms can take on much more risk, so we tend to see both many more failures and many more successes.
I think you answered your own question. In the US, entrepreneurs are not personally liable. Now, that's not the same thing as saying that failure won't reflect badly on their reputation. But it is definitely a lot easier to have a comeback career if you don't have to declare personal bankruptcy.
Employment law in Europe, for example, frequently requires the severance terms to be determined at the time the employee is signed up. The employment agreement is a contract, and will be signed by all positions in the firm. In many cases, the severance terms are based on law.
Among other differences, for example, a German President is personally liable for the financial obligations of their company. If the company goes bankrupt, so does he.