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| Elon Musk enters Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco, Oct. 26, carrying a sink through the lobby area. AP-Yonhap |
By Park Jae-hyuk
Elon Musk firing 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, according to legal experts, Tuesday.
After the new Twitter owner decided to carry out mass layoffs last weekend, at least eight among some 30 employees of Twitter Korea are said to have 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 Monday. "Erum's contract with Twitter Korea was also terminated on Nov. 4."
They also asked reporters to contact Twitter's U.S. headquarters for inquiries.
Shin Hee-jung, a former head of communications at Twitter Korea, tweeted last Friday that it was heartbreaking to leave 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 next 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)."
Musk mentioned Twitter's snowballing losses as the reason for his decision.
If an employer seeks to dismiss an employee for "managerial reasons" under Korean labor law, there must be an urgent managerial need, all-out efforts to avoid dismissal, reasonable and fair criteria to select those who are dismissed, notification 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," said Ki Sei-hwan, a certified public labor attorney from Taegwang Labor Law Firm. "It should be reviewed whether the company fulfilled the requirements for dismissal based on managerial reasons."
Twitter is facing a class action lawsuit in the U.S. from its former employees, with the claim that the company's recent layoffs violate federal and California state law.
At this moment, it remains uncertain 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 labor law.
Ki said that Twitter Korea may avoid government sanctions if the former workers do not raise any objections to the layoffs.
