Dumb American here but that sounds like a few steps too far in employee protections. A business can't even die without government approval?

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1718627440 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

It's because the government essentially takes over the employees, buy paying non-employment money. You deciding that some people don't work for you anymore creates costs for those people and also for the community.

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wizzwizz4 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It's sensible, to prevent… well, exactly this kind of situation: taking away people's livelihoods as part of a tax dodge is an abuse of power. The power of being an employer comes with responsibility.

If the company's dissolving for legitimate reasons (e.g. there's no longer a market for the services), then that's one thing – but "I've had the company send all its customers to a competitor, also owned by me" is an extremely obvious loophole to work around employee protections, and it's correct that it should be closed.

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da_chicken 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

It's not dumb. You're not allowed to close a business in the US until you check a lot of boxes, too. You have to show you don't have outstanding debts and so on. The banks won't let you do that because it's an easy way to escape debt. That's exactly why bankruptcy is an extended legal process.

If an employee is guaranteed X months salary upon notice of layoff in the contract, that's debt you have to resolve before you legally close. If you have a 5 year lease agreement for the property, that's also debt you have to resolve. It's exactly the same idea.

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refurb 6 days ago | parent [-]

You're confusing "winding a business down" with "bankruptcy" in the US.

As long as you follow the law, there is no government "approval" of a dissolution. You notify shareholders and creditors, then resolve any outstanding payments, then dissolve.

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da_chicken 5 days ago | parent [-]

You haven't said anything new. "As long as you follow the law" is basically what I described. You're taking the requirements of clearing your debts and burying them under a phrase, and then claiming you're saying something different.

In part, "following the law" means "clearing any outstanding debts."

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refurb 5 days ago | parent [-]

You seem to have ignored the important distinction - there is no government approval needed.

Even if you have outstanding debts, you can still dissolve the LLC. Of course creditors can cause trouble for doing that, but there is no government approval in the process.

	▲	da_chicken 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		In every state in the US I'm aware of, you must file for a certificate of dissolution with the state department. You can't do so unless you're in "good standing". In effect, you're not allowed to complete the dissolution until the state permits it.