The company is trying to return the cryptocurrency paid to employees after the rise of rate by 700%

An employee of one of the startups told a story about how the employer demanded to return the salary paid in cryptocurrency after the exchange rate rose several times.

According to him, the CEO of the company offered him a settlement in cryptocurrency at the conclusion of the contract in the spring of 2020. The contract contained a condition that the employer could transfer it to pay in dollars, but the employee refused to do so. "If I take the risk of getting paid in cryptocurrency and its rate suddenly rises, I don't want the company to start paying me in dollars," he explained.

In August 2020, the company settled with an employee in cryptocurrency, the rate of which has since risen by 700%. Recently, he received a message from his employer with the following text: "Since you have not brought any revenue to the company and are not currently doing any additional work for it, please return to us all the cryptocurrency received in August 2020. You can bill the company for hours worked in dollars."

"I don't know what to do. I have worked with this person for many years, and he has a tendency to try to change the terms of payments after he has agreed on a certain form of interaction," the author writes.

The MarketWatch portal, where the story was published, recommended that he not return the cryptocurrency, since the employer would hardly want to pay extra if the exchange rate collapsed.

"A contract is a contract," explained Eugene Lee, a labor law lawyer. "Neither you nor your employer can violate the terms of the contract without consequences."

Although the author does not specify the name of the cryptocurrency, the description fits the ether (ETH), the rate of which has increased by 790% since August 1. In addition to contradicting common sense, the option proposed by the employer is also difficult because under American law, when calculating in cryptocurrency from the amount received, the employee must pay taxes.