CNN Business
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Laid-off staff at Twitter’s Africa headquarters are accusing Twitter of “deliberately and recklessly flouting the laws of Ghana” and looking to “silence and intimidate” them once they have been fired.
The crew has employed a legal professional and despatched a letter to the corporate difficult it conform to the West African country’s exertions rules, supply them with further severance pay and different related advantages, in step with what different Twitter staff will obtain.
They have additionally petitioned the Ghanaian executive to compel Twitter to “adhere to the laws of Ghana on redundancy and offer the employees a fair and just negotiation and redundancy pay,” in keeping with a letter to the rustic’s Chief Labour Officer acquired by way of CNN.
“It is clear that Twitter, Inc. under Mr Elon Musk is either deliberately or recklessly flouting the laws of Ghana, is operating in bad faith and in a manner that seeks to silence and intimidate former employees into accepting any terms unilaterally thrown at them,” the letter states.
Twitter laid off all however some of the African staff simply 4 days after the corporate opened a bodily place of work within the capital Accra following Musk’s takeover. But the team of workers of a few dozen weren’t introduced severance pay, which they are saying is needed by way of Ghana’s exertions rules, in line with their employment contracts. They additionally declare they weren’t knowledgeable in regards to the subsequent steps — in contrast to staff within the United States and Europe — till an afternoon after CNN reported on their scenario.
In the letter to Twitter Ghana Ltd, acquired by way of CNN, the African staff rejected a “Ghana Mutual Separation Agreement” from Twitter, which they are saying used to be despatched to their private emails providing ultimate pay that the corporate claims to were arrived at after a negotiation.
Several individuals of the crew and their legal professional advised CNN that there used to be no such negotiation on severance pay. They declare it used to be under what is needed by way of regulation and contradicts what Musk tweeted that departing staff would obtain.
“Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required,” Musk tweeted. Twitter knowledgeable the Ghana-based staff in early November that they might be paid till their ultimate day of employment — December 4. And they’ll proceed to obtain complete pay and advantages throughout the 30-day realize length.
“It was very vague, did not talk about outstanding leave or paid time off, and just asked us to sign if we agree. I never bothered to go back to the document because it is rubbish and is still in violation of labor laws here,” one former worker advised CNN on situation of anonymity.
The Accra-based crew accuses Twitter of coping with them in dangerous religion, no longer being clear, and discriminating in opposition to them in comparison to laid-off staff in different jurisdictions.
“The employees are distressed, humiliated, and intimidated by this turn of events. There are non-Ghanaian employees, some with young families, who moved here to take up jobs and have now been left unceremoniously in the lurch, with no provision for repatriation expenses and no way to communicate with Twitter, Inc. and discuss or plead their case,” the attention to Ghana’s Chief Labour Officer says.
Their lawyer, Carla Olympio, says the surprising termination of just about the entire crew violated Ghanaian employment regulation as it is regarded as a “redundancy” which calls for three-month realize to government and a negotiation on redundancy pay.
“In stark contrast to internal company assurances given to Twitter employees worldwide prior to the takeover, it seems that little attempt was made to comply with Ghana’s labor laws, and the protections enshrined therein for workers in circumstances where companies are undertaking mass layoffs due to a restructuring or reorganization,” she wrote in a commentary to CNN.
The staff mentioned of their enchantment to Ghana’s Chief Labour Officer that Twitter’s formal access into the continent began with “great fanfare and with the support of the government,” they usually be expecting an identical consideration to their plight now.
They are difficult 3 months’ gross wage as severance pay, repatriation bills for non-Ghanaian team of workers, vesting of inventory choices supplied of their contracts, and different advantages similar to healthcare continuation that have been introduced to team of workers international.
CNN has reached out to Ghana’s Employment and Labor Relations ministry for remark.
