For example in Germany, if you are doing IT on an industry where the company has an agreement with IG Metal (Verdi, whatever), the deal is for all employees of the company, not just some of them.
That's more to do with the type and quality of the company you work for rather than the labor laws of the country itslef. Plenty of body shops and overwork horror stories with terible managers coming from those countries as well if you happen to work for the "wrong" companies.
It's just that economically performant economies like Switzerland, US, UK, Germany and Nordics tend to have more "good" companies than "wrong" companies, compared to southern/central/eastern Europe where it's moxtly bodyshops, consultancies and outsourcing.
What matters is what those managers are allowed to do on their countries, and the existing laws to punish them if they try.
If anyone is being exploited, it is on them to report the issue to the authorities, and there are ways to do so without exposing oneself.
If the managers are lucky they might even end in some TV "exposed" kind of program.
Up to the affected to fight for their rights, the difference is that back home networking and owning favours tends to be more valuable than being right.
When our politicians show the way, see current goverment downfall, most people don't care about doing the right stuff, when they can get better via other means.
>What matters is what those managers are allowed to do on their countries, and the existing laws to punish them if they try.
Meh, I live in 'socialist' Austria now, that in theory has some strong workers regulations, but some corporations, HR and mangers have become experts at skirting areound those regulations leading to plenty of terrible contracts with anti-employee clauses, long hours, burn-outs and firings without any retribution from the authorities becasue you never have enough exact proof that any specific law was broken by anyone, and employment law is basically at will anyway if you don't have a strong union/workers' council. It's not roses and sunshine everywhere.
I assume Portugal aslo has good worker's rights and labor regualtions on paper, that rutinely get ignored because the jobs market is not in the workers' favor so they have to put up with a market that's not in their favor even though the law is in theory on their side.
Which is why I followed that quote with "Up to the affected to fight for their rights, the difference is that back home networking and owning favours tends to be more valuable than being right.", and "When our politicians show the way, see current goverment downfall, most people don't care about doing the right stuff, when they can get better via other means."
I have had the pleasure to have been part of worker actions explaining some companies foreign managers that whatever they though about employees in their home countries did not apply in Germany.
Just like Tesla is finding out in some European countries.
Naturally doing the right thing does come with side effects to own career, if that is what one cares about.
For example in Germany, if you are doing IT on an industry where the company has an agreement with IG Metal (Verdi, whatever), the deal is for all employees of the company, not just some of them.