Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

washingtonpost.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 852 posts

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#31

Post by basementcat »

outside1234 wrote: post #3

Did Twitter file a California WARN notice? If not, they need to do so and give 60 day notice to workers in California. So, don't accept anything that doesn't preserve your rights to your Tuesday equity grant. Details here: https://edd.ca.gov/en/Jobs_and_Training/Layoff_Services_WARN Key Provision: "Layoff of 50 or more employees within a 30-day period regardless of % of workforce. ...." Penalties for Violation: "A po…

My understanding is that the WARN notice does not apply when employees are terminated for cause. This has the extra "benefit" of not having to pay out unemployment claims.

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#32

Post by nytesky »

nemo44x wrote: post #11
outside1234 wrote: post #3

Did Twitter file a California WARN notice? If not, they need to do so and give 60 day notice to workers in California. So, don't accept anything that doesn't preserve your rights to your Tuesday equity grant. Details here: https://edd.ca.gov/en/Jobs_and_Training/Layoff_Services_WARN Key Provision: "Layoff of 50 or more employees within a 30-day period regardless of % of workforce. ...." Penalties for Violation: "A po…

I think a couple months severance will cover it. That's usually how these types of things work.

The reason they want to lay off today is to avoid the stock grants, so it comes down which $$ was bigger. And honestly they were likely planning for severance anyways...

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#34

Post by tyingq »

yboris wrote: post #17
swozey wrote: post #9

Evidently Musk had Tweeps work all weekend on the new Verified feature lest they get fired, and some were fired "for cause" anyway. https://twitter.com/GergelyOrosz/status/1587029446061686784

How is it legal to demand people work on weekends? How is it legal to (even threaten) firing if a new assigned task that takes a long time is not done on time?

US "at will" employment laws.

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#35

Post by myspy »

yboris wrote: post #17
swozey wrote: post #9

Evidently Musk had Tweeps work all weekend on the new Verified feature lest they get fired, and some were fired "for cause" anyway. https://twitter.com/GergelyOrosz/status/1587029446061686784

How is it legal to demand people work on weekends? How is it legal to (even threaten) firing if a new assigned task that takes a long time is not done on time?

Musk is a narcistic asshole, he commands at will and sadly a large group of people stay behind him and defend every step.

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#36

Post by jdm2212 »

yboris wrote: post #17
swozey wrote: post #9

Evidently Musk had Tweeps work all weekend on the new Verified feature lest they get fired, and some were fired "for cause" anyway. https://twitter.com/GergelyOrosz/status/1587029446061686784

How is it legal to demand people work on weekends? How is it legal to (even threaten) firing if a new assigned task that takes a long time is not done on time?

For salaried, at-will employment, the employer can demand whatever they want and fire you for whatever reason they want. There are exceptions for, like, sexual harassment and racial discrimination, but not for "I disagree with the boss about what is a realistic project timeline".

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#37

Post by itg »

yboris wrote: post #17
swozey wrote: post #9

Evidently Musk had Tweeps work all weekend on the new Verified feature lest they get fired, and some were fired "for cause" anyway. https://twitter.com/GergelyOrosz/status/1587029446061686784

How is it legal to demand people work on weekends? How is it legal to (even threaten) firing if a new assigned task that takes a long time is not done on time?

I had a manager like this once. They won’t explicitly ask you to work on the weekends, but the deadline in combination with the workload made it obvious you would be working on the weekend and late nights. So glad I left that toxic place.

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#38

Post by nemo44x »

yboris wrote: post #17
swozey wrote: post #9

Evidently Musk had Tweeps work all weekend on the new Verified feature lest they get fired, and some were fired "for cause" anyway. https://twitter.com/GergelyOrosz/status/1587029446061686784

How is it legal to demand people work on weekends? How is it legal to (even threaten) firing if a new assigned task that takes a long time is not done on time?

They are all exempt employees so they aren't covered by a lot of labor law, such as getting paid "overtime", etc. This is how professional, salaried employment works. Exempt employees tend to be paid very well and have great benefits though.

You can fire an employee for no reason at all since employment is "at will". Musk probably assumes a good deal of the workforce is lazy and/or incompetent and he doesn't want to pay them. So he's figuring out who to fire.

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#39

Post by galangalalgol »

swader999 wrote: post #18
lefstathiou wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't seem like an insurmountable obstacle. From some Googling: "Employers who fail to provide notification must provide their laid-off employees with back pay and benefits for the period of the violation (which means the amount of time by which their advance notice fell short of 60 days)." The value of ripping off the Band-Aid could easily be worth two months of severance in his mind.

Especially with stock awards due.

Is it possible those awards could be construed as benefits?

Re: Musk’s inner circle worked through weekend to cement Twitter layoff plans

#40

Post by Barrin92 »

quick question here. I'm completely in the dark about US labour law and such but is it possible to lay people off if the sole purpose is to prevent them from receiving stock compensation? Sounds kind of wild given that it seems expected compensation when you signed a contract to work there in the first place.
Post reply on HN