Comment by mattlondon
7 years ago
I dont think that "at will" exists in all countries - e.g. in Europe I have been told by managers I've had in various employments that it is almost impossible to fire someone in Europe without either some serious misconduct (e.g. sexual harassment), or without first going through a lot of steps to try and not-fire the employee (e.g. performance improvement plans).
I am not sure if that is true or not or if it applies to google employees, but I feel like there is a ring of truth in it.
In Germany sexual harassment earns you at least an adhortatory letter (the first step to a dismissal), and depending on the severity the options go up to an instant dismissal like in US at will states.
While it's harder to get fired here, it is by no means impossible. The law just provides what's basically a three strike system (one to two adhortatory letters for the same reason, then the third time the employee can be dismissed) to give the employee a chance to change behaviour.
That is true (no at will employment in at least most if not all of Europe, thankfully). And of course it applies to Google employees in the respective countries because it is the law.