[Korea] Elon Musk’s Twitter layoffs may violate labour law

According to legal experts, Elon Musk’s firing of nearly half of Twitter's staff globally, including several employees of the U.S. firm's Korean office, could be in violation of the Korean Labor Standards Act, The Korea Times reports.

Mr Musk -  the new owner of Twitter - decided to carry out mass layoffs last weekend and at least eight among around 30 employees of Twitter Korea have reportedly been forced to leave the company.

"All members of Twitter Korea's communication team left Twitter," Twitter Korea and its PR agency, Erum, told reporters on November 7. "Erum's contract with Twitter Korea was also terminated on Nov. 4."

Erum asked reporters to contact Twitter's US headquarters with further inquiries.

Shin Hee-jung - a former head of communications at Twitter Korea - tweeted last Friday about the heartbreak of leaving the company that she loved.

"All employees were informed via email of Friday's planned layoffs, and we were advised to check our personal email accounts, as laid-off workers will be blocked from access to their company email accounts," Shin also wrote on Twitter the following day. "One after another, people were blocked from access to their company email accounts, and when I checked my personal email account, I finally realized (that I was fired)."

Mr Musk cited Twitter's escalating losses as the reason for his decision.

Under Korean labour law, if an employer seeks to dismiss an employee for "managerial reasons" there must be an urgent managerial need, all-out efforts to avoid dismissal, reasonable and fair criteria to select those who are dismissed, notification of at least 50 days before the date of dismissal and talks with the union or a person who represents more than half of the staff.

"Twitter Korea is subject to the Korean Labor Standards Act, as it is a limited liability company employing more than five employees," Ki Sei-hwan - a certified public labour attorney from Taegwang Labor Law Firm - told The Korea Times. "It should be reviewed whether the company fulfilled the requirements for dismissal based on managerial reasons."

Twitter currently faces a class action lawsuit in the US from its former employees, over the claim that the company's recent layoffs violate federal and California state law.

It is uncertain at this time whether Twitter Korea's former workers will sue their previous employer. The Ministry of Employment and Labor is reportedly trying to contact Twitter Korea to check whether the company complied with the nation's labour law.

Ki said that Twitter Korea may avoid government sanctions provided that its former workers do not raise any objections to the layoffs.

Source: The Korea Times

(Quotes via original reporting)

According to legal experts, Elon Musk’s firing of nearly half of Twitter's staff globally, including several employees of the U.S. firm's Korean office, could be in violation of the Korean Labor Standards Act, The Korea Times reports.

Mr Musk -  the new owner of Twitter - decided to carry out mass layoffs last weekend and at least eight among around 30 employees of Twitter Korea have reportedly been forced to leave the company.

"All members of Twitter Korea's communication team left Twitter," Twitter Korea and its PR agency, Erum, told reporters on November 7. "Erum's contract with Twitter Korea was also terminated on Nov. 4."

Erum asked reporters to contact Twitter's US headquarters with further inquiries.

Shin Hee-jung - a former head of communications at Twitter Korea - tweeted last Friday about the heartbreak of leaving the company that she loved.

"All employees were informed via email of Friday's planned layoffs, and we were advised to check our personal email accounts, as laid-off workers will be blocked from access to their company email accounts," Shin also wrote on Twitter the following day. "One after another, people were blocked from access to their company email accounts, and when I checked my personal email account, I finally realized (that I was fired)."

Mr Musk cited Twitter's escalating losses as the reason for his decision.

Under Korean labour law, if an employer seeks to dismiss an employee for "managerial reasons" there must be an urgent managerial need, all-out efforts to avoid dismissal, reasonable and fair criteria to select those who are dismissed, notification of at least 50 days before the date of dismissal and talks with the union or a person who represents more than half of the staff.

"Twitter Korea is subject to the Korean Labor Standards Act, as it is a limited liability company employing more than five employees," Ki Sei-hwan - a certified public labour attorney from Taegwang Labor Law Firm - told The Korea Times. "It should be reviewed whether the company fulfilled the requirements for dismissal based on managerial reasons."

Twitter currently faces a class action lawsuit in the US from its former employees, over the claim that the company's recent layoffs violate federal and California state law.

It is uncertain at this time whether Twitter Korea's former workers will sue their previous employer. The Ministry of Employment and Labor is reportedly trying to contact Twitter Korea to check whether the company complied with the nation's labour law.

Ki said that Twitter Korea may avoid government sanctions provided that its former workers do not raise any objections to the layoffs.

Source: The Korea Times

(Quotes via original reporting)