After Elon Musk Takeover of Twitter – Employees Fired

After Elon Musk Takeover of Twitter – Employees Fired

Shortly after Elon Musk had bought Twitter, UK staff as well as international workforce were shortly fired. This includes three senior executives that were fired almost immediately. Now Elon Musk is paying for its consequences for the mass firing of employees. There are employees based all around the world including the UK who have staff in London, Birmingham, and Manchester. Employment rights varies country by country; this can be complicated when it comes to where employees can make tribunal claims. The Courts will decide on the country to which the employee had the closest connection. In this case we will focus on the England and Wales legislation.

The approach that Twitter has taken is ‘brutal’ and has completely ignored the collective consultation. A collective consultation is if an employer is looking to lay off employees, they must consult them on their redundancy plans. By law, if an employer is planning 20 or more redundancies (dismissals), each of these employees must be consulted. This consultation must start 30 days before any dismissal can take effect. Furthermore, a compelling reason to justify the redundancy action is needed ensuring the selection process was fair and in a non-discriminatory manner.
Twitter have not followed any fair process and is to face claims for unfair dismissal and protective awards. Furthermore, this will also negatively impact their image, reputation, and employee relations.

What are employees the rights if made redundant? 
• They are entitled to a fair process
• Right to a minimum notice period
• Right to a consultation period
• Statutory redundancy payment

The selection for redundancy must be in a fair manner for example level of experience and capability can considered. This selection cannot be in relation to their protected characteristics for example disability, sex, race etc. As this will constitute as an unfair redundancy.

What is the correct procedure for redundancy?

There are several steps of the redundancy process that need to be followed. Some are:

1. Assess and Avoid
As an employer, they would need to establish how many staff may need to be made redundant and how this can be avoided. The aim is to avoid having to make any compulsory redundancies. They can look at whether staff are willing to take voluntary redundancy or early retirement. There are other aspects which also can be evaluated such as cutting wages, alternative roles etc.

2. Consultation
If the redundancy is unavoidable, then the employer should start consulting their staff and they would need to be notified prior. Failure to do so could lead to an unfair dismissal.

3. Notification
The amount of statutory notice to staff would depend on how long the staff members have been with the company/organisation. This tends to be between one and twelve weeks.

4. Pay
The last step would be to calculate how much would staff be entitled to in terms of redundancy payment. In order to satisfy this staff must:

• Have a contract
• Have at least two years’ continuous service
• Be being dismissed or laid off

Redundancy can be offered to employees if staff have not had two years of continuous service, but this would be at the employer’s discretion as this is not mandatory.

When to contact a solicitor?

If an employer you are having queries or need assistance on how the redundancy works, please contact our team of employment specialists today. Or if you are an individual and at risk of redundancy or have been made redundant and not aware of the laws to ensure that you are unfairly treated, we would be happy to help. Speaking to a solicitor may save your job or help you receive the redundancy payment that you would be eligible for or help you claim for a redundancy.

Please call our friendly team on 0330 221 0684 or email [email protected].