Comment by dathinab
25 days ago
I don't think this is legal??
It's like telling someone they have to drive none stop for their job but neither giving them a company car or nor a budget for it.
(To be clear done and companies get away with it != legal. I know companies sometimes get away with exactly the example I named in some cases.)
It’s generally legal for employers to require employees to supply their own tools as a condition of employment as long as it doesn’t reduce their wage to below minimum wage. Why would developers be any different?
_if_ stated in the contract exactly what is needed with any possible constraints on brands etc., this didn't seem to have been in the contract at all
or else you wouldn't be able to know what you will (excluding overtime etc.) earn, which would be absurd to be legal (but might be, US isn't exactly known for grate labor laws)
Recurring subscription fees are not “tools” the employee owns, they are employer business expenses.
There are statutes requiring employers to fully reimburse business expenses incurred by the employee. Example: Cal. Lab. Code § 2802.
for one, because that's like requiring a particular brand of a tool to be used. That's even ignoring the "required" because usually I can't require that my hide uses a tool unless I, as employer, provide it to him/her
They can require certain “brands” of tools if it’s deemed necessary for some other requirement of the job. In the case of Copilot it’s because Microsoft’s tools already check all the boxes for their enterprise partner requirements and haven’t bothered to do the leg work to get anyone else in-line. It’s completely arbitrary but it’s most likely all legal.
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It may not be legal, but somehow I don't doubt that it is happening... I recall several friends over the years being told to use their personal phones or personal computers for work when they were starting out in a new position...