Elonfanboisayswhat.
Twitter and Musk
- Thread starter VicBee
- Start date
Something sounds fishy...
There is no requirement in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for severance pay. Severance pay is a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee (or the employee's representative).
There is no law in California requiring employers to offer severance packages. An employer is only obligated to give you severance pay if you have a previous agreement to receive it. For example, there may be a severance pay clause in your pre-employment contract, or your union agreement might mandate it.
Is Musk lying?
There is no requirement for severance pay. There is a 60 day requirement for a mass layoff as part of the federal WARN requirements. If Twitter had filed WARN paperwork 60 days prior their layoff then they could have laid people off with no severance pay. If a company fails to meet the filing period (by not filing) then they typically need to provide 60 days severance pay to meet the WARN filing period requirements. The whole thing is more complex than this -- but this is a quick sketch.
In the class action suit, what are they alleging and damages and asking for as a remedy?
I think cali requires 60 days notice so "severance" is probably getting confounded w/equivalent pay compensation from lack of notice?
In any case. Elon came in thinking he was being "alpha/hot shit" by doing mass firings, legal smacked him, and now he's walking it back by spinning in the best possible light. Calculated enough, maybe the PR optics was worth it.
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By the way.... the actual severance package information that was communicated to terminated Twitter employees came out. They are being offered ONE MONTH of severance pay. There is some type attempt being made to somehow adhere to WARN. We will see what the actual termination paperwork states when most former Twitter employees get it late this week.
Details of Twitter's Layoffs
Employees put on ice through WARN Act period, offered one month of severance in return for a release
https://www.nycsouthpaw.com/p/details-of-twitters-layoffs
Last night, in the very first communication rank-and-file employees had received from leadership since Elon Musk completed his purchase of Twitter and fired its existing executives, Twitter confirmed widespread reports it would be conducting layoffs of about half of 7,500 person workforce.
Pawprints has obtained some of the company’s communications to those employees. Some highlights of the documents, which are included below:
- Twitter “is offering a severance package of one month of base pay (or OTE for commission based employees” in return for employee’s signing a release that would prevent them from suing the company. Relative to most severance packages I’ve heard of, that’s a pretty paltry offer. Moreover, Twitter has made clear that it won’t negotiate either the financial offer or the terms of severance agreement that it will email to laid off employees in about a week.
- The documents include a gesture at compliance with the complex of federal and state laws, known as the WARN Act, that are intended to give employees and their communities time to adjust to the reality of a sudden mass layoff or similar event. The WARN Act requires big employers like Twitter to give prior notice of any plant closing, mass layoff, or similar widespread loss of employment. It’s 60 days almost everywhere in America except for New York, where the state legislature pushed it out to 90 days. Instead of true advance notice, Twitter is notifying the affected employees that “today is your last working day at the company,” but delaying the end of their pay and benefits until after the applicable notice period has run.
I don't know what the applicable notice period is yet, and don;t know whether they are still on the payroll, and don't know if Elon is or will do what he says he will do.
As that information develops, plus the language, content, and allegations of any court filing (since there is all this "class action" talk) then it will come together a bit. Even if just to find out where they disagree on law and facts. Conceivably there are areas too where Elon might just say okay, I will pay you for two months rather than one upon advice of counsel or whatever. Needs to distill a bit.
Things are tough all over.
Yeah but it’s not exactly a guarantee that if Musk fails at twitter it doesn’t drag down Tesla, which is where his wealth actually is.
Tesla trades at ~70x multiple and that’s down from 165x. Apple trades at ~25x for reference.