“Let the Lamentations Begin”
Unchecked Twitter chaos: Compensation ends up in spam, recipients prefer to go to court
The layoffs on Twitter are anything but smooth – possibly because Elon Musk wants to save money.
© JOHN ANGELILLO/ / Picture Alliance
Shortly after Elon Musk took over Twitter, the mass layoffs began. Now the payment of severance payments is apparently starting – if the documents arrive at all and are well received by the recipients.
When Elon Musk showed up at Twitter headquarters with a sink, it was the beginning of the end for many careers at the company. Within a few days, Musk not only fired the entire management team, but also thousands of employees. Out of over 7500 people there are less than 3000 left. In a first wave, there were layoffs on a large scale, and then a volunteer program was used to screen them further. Many of the former employees are still waiting for their money today.
There is a system to this, because the company is under great financial pressure (find out more here). In mid-December 2022, a report by the New York Times said that Musk had toyed with the idea of simply not paying severance pay – at that point he was already suspending rents for numerous office buildings.
Now it seems that alumni could gradually get their money – but not quite smoothly. As “Gizmodo” reports, Twitter has commissioned an external service provider with the communication, but it is said to be quite clumsy.
Twitter compensation landed in spam, website unavailable
Allegedly, contract documents and information on outstanding payments were sent in rather unprofessional-looking e-mails, which some recipients discovered by accident in their spam folder.
A few days ago wrote former Twitter financial analyst Parker Lyons: “In case you’re wondering what’s going on behind the scenes at Twitter right now, a lot of people have just received their disconnection agreements in their spam folders, pointing to a URL that was registered this morning by an untrustworthy provider.”
Twitter has championed the CPT group which offers legal services in the USA and has an average Google rating of 2.3 stars from 39 reviews. Mainly, people complain about outstanding checks.
The link in the email points to “usseparation.com“. In fact, the site is very poorly accessible and if you can call themone is greeted by an apparently hastily assembled website.
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“Let the Lamentations Begin”
A small explanation leads to two links that can only be reached with a login, behind which lies the separation agreement and thus an exemption. “Business Insider” writes that many of those affected are now considering whether the offer is worthwhile compared to a lawsuit.
Accordingly, Twitter should only offer a severance payment of a single month’s salary. In return, the signatories should give up all possibilities to take legal action against the termination. In early November, Musk announced at least three more months’ salary for anyone who leaves Twitter.
Nevertheless, Twitter can only hope that many recipients of this email will take up the offer. Because in the background, countless former employees who have sued the company or plan to go to court are forming. “Let the lawsuits begin,” a former employee commented on the email to Business Insider.
And that is likely to be more expensive, because just ignoring the notice period for a mass layoff costs up to $ 30,000 in the US for each missing warning.
Twitter is also being sued in Germany
In Germany, a corresponding resistance has been forming since the end of November, reports, among others, the BR. In Germany, too, employees had been given notice of termination without reason, which is not so easy under labor law in Germany.
According to the report, many affected Germans have joined the union and are in the process of setting up a works council. To this end, they brought an action for protection against dismissal.
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