[EMEA] Payroll problems hit Twitter staff in Europe

Twitter, Inc. is looking into the reason some staff in Europe have not received their November salaries in a timely manner. The payroll delays come in the wake of sweeping cuts, layoffs and resignations across the company since billionaire Elon Musk took over, Ars Technica reports.

On November 25, Twitter staff in the UK reportedly received an email just before 1pm telling them their pay date would be November 28. In addition to the email - sent from the EMEA Payroll Team - staff received their usual monthly payslips. However, according to Ars Technica, staff in the UK and Germany appear not to have been paid on time.

“It has come to our attention that some of you may not have received your November 2022 salary yet in your bank account,” an email sent to current and former staff reads. “The payments have gone through our Twitter bank account, and as usual, with no change to the process.”

The email said this “might be a delay in Interbank settlement” but adds the company is “actively investing [sic] with our bank and will keep you posted.”

Four independent sources in the UK and Germany have reportedly told Ars Technica that they did not receive payment on the morning their salaries were due.

The sources included current and former staff. Under the terms of their release from the company, the latter should still be paid.

Twitter staff are ordinarily paid on the 28th of every month. If the day falls on a Monday, Ars Technica reporting says that staff typically see their salary as a pending payment on Friday and funds are subsequently received in their accounts by midnight on Saturday.

Twitter has already been under fire from former staff for not paying their expenses on time. Former Twitter employees who incurred expenses while still working for the company are reportedly owed thousands in expenses and are accruing debt on their personal bank accounts. 

The majority of Twitter's payroll staff resigned in mid-November after Mr Musk's infamous ‘hardcore’ ultimatum.

It is now Monday evening (November 28) and staff in the UK and Germany have not yet been paid today. Those in the Netherlands and Ireland were. This indicates that the problem falls to staffing and operations, rather than a systematic refusal to pay workers. 

“The company is just not run well,” one affected former UK staff member told Ars Technica.

A former Twitter employee shared screenshots of their bank accounts with the publication, revealing that the failure to receive their salary had pushed them into an overdraft. The former staff member is also owed expenses from the company that they reportedly incurred while they were working there. 

“First you are told you are out, but we are going to try to save your job,” the former employee said. “Then you get told you will be paid so you can’t start work or get paid for jobs, otherwise you’re fired. Now it’s payday, and direct debits are starting to be taken from a virtually empty account.

“I feel ashamed I trusted the words of the senior staff who now all got their money and are happily enjoying it, while the rest of us suffer like this. That is one very harsh way to push people to quit rather than wait for their severance packages.”

Ars Technica, by midday in the UK, some staff members reported that they were being paid with a payment reference atypical of how Twitter would usually pay their salaries. One former employee estimated that around 80 per cent of workers still had yet to be paid by around 1 pm UK time, based on conversations they participated in within a Slack group populated by former and current employees.

One former staff member shared a screenshot with Ars Technica showing a payment had been made, then reversed, this morning (November 28). Another ex-Twitter employee said that “at least 20 people” had to place calls to their mortgage providers due to a lack of funds because their salary did not arrive in time.

By 6pm this evening, some staff in the UK still had not been paid, according to those with access to the Slack group. Some had reportedly received an email suggesting that receiving banks were undergoing anti-fraud checks.

Others reported that payments were coming from different banks - banks Twitter would not usually use to pay salaries - a contradiction to Twitter’s earlier reassurances to staff that payments would be made “as usual, with no change to the process.”

Twitter did not respond to Ars Technica’s request for comment on this story. It is unclear whether any communications staffers remain employed after recent layoffs.

Source: Ars Technica

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

Read the GPA's take on why payroll resignations at Twitter matter.

Twitter, Inc. is looking into the reason some staff in Europe have not received their November salaries in a timely manner. The payroll delays come in the wake of sweeping cuts, layoffs and resignations across the company since billionaire Elon Musk took over, Ars Technica reports.

On November 25, Twitter staff in the UK reportedly received an email just before 1pm telling them their pay date would be November 28. In addition to the email - sent from the EMEA Payroll Team - staff received their usual monthly payslips. However, according to Ars Technica, staff in the UK and Germany appear not to have been paid on time.

“It has come to our attention that some of you may not have received your November 2022 salary yet in your bank account,” an email sent to current and former staff reads. “The payments have gone through our Twitter bank account, and as usual, with no change to the process.”

The email said this “might be a delay in Interbank settlement” but adds the company is “actively investing [sic] with our bank and will keep you posted.”

Four independent sources in the UK and Germany have reportedly told Ars Technica that they did not receive payment on the morning their salaries were due.

The sources included current and former staff. Under the terms of their release from the company, the latter should still be paid.

Twitter staff are ordinarily paid on the 28th of every month. If the day falls on a Monday, Ars Technica reporting says that staff typically see their salary as a pending payment on Friday and funds are subsequently received in their accounts by midnight on Saturday.

Twitter has already been under fire from former staff for not paying their expenses on time. Former Twitter employees who incurred expenses while still working for the company are reportedly owed thousands in expenses and are accruing debt on their personal bank accounts. 

The majority of Twitter's payroll staff resigned in mid-November after Mr Musk's infamous ‘hardcore’ ultimatum.

It is now Monday evening (November 28) and staff in the UK and Germany have not yet been paid today. Those in the Netherlands and Ireland were. This indicates that the problem falls to staffing and operations, rather than a systematic refusal to pay workers. 

“The company is just not run well,” one affected former UK staff member told Ars Technica.

A former Twitter employee shared screenshots of their bank accounts with the publication, revealing that the failure to receive their salary had pushed them into an overdraft. The former staff member is also owed expenses from the company that they reportedly incurred while they were working there. 

“First you are told you are out, but we are going to try to save your job,” the former employee said. “Then you get told you will be paid so you can’t start work or get paid for jobs, otherwise you’re fired. Now it’s payday, and direct debits are starting to be taken from a virtually empty account.

“I feel ashamed I trusted the words of the senior staff who now all got their money and are happily enjoying it, while the rest of us suffer like this. That is one very harsh way to push people to quit rather than wait for their severance packages.”

Ars Technica, by midday in the UK, some staff members reported that they were being paid with a payment reference atypical of how Twitter would usually pay their salaries. One former employee estimated that around 80 per cent of workers still had yet to be paid by around 1 pm UK time, based on conversations they participated in within a Slack group populated by former and current employees.

One former staff member shared a screenshot with Ars Technica showing a payment had been made, then reversed, this morning (November 28). Another ex-Twitter employee said that “at least 20 people” had to place calls to their mortgage providers due to a lack of funds because their salary did not arrive in time.

By 6pm this evening, some staff in the UK still had not been paid, according to those with access to the Slack group. Some had reportedly received an email suggesting that receiving banks were undergoing anti-fraud checks.

Others reported that payments were coming from different banks - banks Twitter would not usually use to pay salaries - a contradiction to Twitter’s earlier reassurances to staff that payments would be made “as usual, with no change to the process.”

Twitter did not respond to Ars Technica’s request for comment on this story. It is unclear whether any communications staffers remain employed after recent layoffs.

Source: Ars Technica

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

Read the GPA's take on why payroll resignations at Twitter matter.