Acknowledging its “conversion error”,the platform formerly known as Twitter is asking former employees,,to repay amounts of up to $70,000 in some cases.
Elon Musk’s X Corp is chasing former staff to pay back stock benefits it mistakenly overpaid them 18 months ago.AP
At least six former X employees have received legal notices,according to people speaking on the condition of anonymity.
“It has come to our attention that you received a significant overpayment in error in January 2023,” X’s Asia Pacific human resources department said in an email,seen by this masthead,to a number of former staff this year.
“We would be grateful if you could arrange the repayment to us[using the account details below] at your earliest convenience.”
The company said the overpayment was related to “deferred cash compensation”,in the form of employee shares issued to the staff when they joined Twitter. These shares were valued at $US54.20 ($82) each,the price at which in 2022,and the total number of shares acquired by an employee was based on the length of their tenure at the company.
The currency conversion errors made by X when employees were paid their entitlements once they were made redundant had led to overpayments of between $1500 and $70,000. According to one account,X paid out the share entitlements at a conversion rate 2.5 times the value of the shares.
Separate correspondence seen by this masthead from representatives for X told former staff members if they failed to comply with the demand set out,Twitter Australia Holdings Pty Ltd reserved the right to commence proceedings for the recovery of the overpayment “together with interest”.
None of the former employees have complied with X’s request,this masthead was told.
Twitter was after Musk bought the company. He subsequently brought about sweeping changes,making between 75 per cent and 80 per cent of its employees redundant,rebranding it to X,as well as loosening free speech on the platform,including the reintroduction of controversial figures such as right-wing public intellectual and misogynist influencer.
Elon Musk's monster rocket Starship successfully travels to space and back.
Advertisers have since started on the platform,while official correspondence with the company has become increasingly difficult with a lack of local presence.
The platform has also recently been asking former employees to return company laptops,almost 18 months after they were sacked. In some cases,employees have said they made several attempts to return X-owned devices with no success.
X was approached for comment,responding with an automatic reply of:“Busy now,please check back later.”
The associate director for corporate matters at boutique legal firm Burch&Co,Victoria Moffat,said it was unlikely Australia’s laws would limit X’s ability to chase up the payments.
Employee share schemes of this type typically were not regulated by Australia’s Fair Work Act,she said.
“I couldn’t speak specifically to this particular plan,also given it was a US plan,rather than an Australian one,” she said.
Employment law specialist Hayden Stephens said it sounded like an odd mistake. He suggested the best thing for the former Twitter staff involved to do would be to ask X to clearly explain how the error occurred and ask for supporting documentary evidence.
Stephens said that under Australian employment law,when there had been a genuine mistake,“there is usually an obligation to repay that money”.
Musk,also chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX,has faced off against Australia’s eSafety commissioner and the Albanese government this year after refusing to remove a video of the Wakeley church stabbing. Meanwhile,Tesla shareholders on Musk’s controversial $80 billion pay package this week.
The eSafety Commissioner,which Musk labelled a victory,saying:“Freedom of speech is worth fighting for.”
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