Peninsula comment re: Twitter layoffs

Many Twitter employees are finding out today whether they still have jobs, following Elon Musk’s takeover of the popular social media site. It has been speculated that he could be looking to cut up to 50% of Twitter’s 8,000-strong workforce.

Although the company has offices and employees around the globe, including the UK and Republic of Ireland, its headquarters are in California. Under Californian law, if more than 50 people are being laid off at the same time they need a 60-day notice period.

A memo was sent out to all employees yesterday saying: “By 9AM PST on Friday Nov. 4th, everyone will receive an individual email with the subject line: Your Role at Twitter. Please check your email, including your spam folder. – If your employment is not impacted, you will receive a notification via your Twitter email. ”

“If your employment is impacted, you will receive a notification with next steps via your personal email. – If you do not receive an email from twitter-hr@ by 5PM PST on Friday Nov. 4th, please email [email protected]. To help ensure the safety of each employee as well as Twitter systems and customer data, our offices will be temporarily closed and all badge access will be suspended.”

Kate Palmer, HR Advice and Consultancy Director at Peninsula, says “A dismissal of this nature in the UK would generally not be lawful and would open an organisation up to significant risk of tribunal claims.

“Under UK employment law, employers who are considering making 20 or more employees redundant within a 90-day period must complete collective consultation and submit notification of the proposed redundancy to the Secretary of State. They must also compile a compelling business case to justify the need to consider redundancy action and ensure any related selection processes were conducted in a fair and non-discriminatory manner.

“A company-wide email informing staff of redundancy would not only open an employer up to extensive liability, it could also negatively impact their image, reputation, and employee relations. It remains to be seen what legal ramifications there will be for Twitter from employees who are being laid off.

“Global organisations like Twitter are likely to be bound by different laws on fair dismissals depending on the country in which its affected employees are based.

“However, jurisdictional matters such as these can be complicated when it comes to where employees can make tribunal claims and therefore which laws apply. It would be for the Courts to decide on the country to which the employee had the closest connection.