Probably in smaller firms or start ups where the level of knowledge, HR and legal support may be less. Likewise, some US firms (Twitter being a case in point) can need educating but for the most parts, larger companies try and do it properly because of the expense, hassle and publicity impact of doing it wrong. Cases there do occur but more of an exception then the rule.
Interestingly, in this case company is transferring a large proportion of roles (including his) to lower cost countries. So the decision is driven by cost.