A Dublin lawyer who has gone viral on TikTok with workplace related advice has slammed Twitter's "redundancies by email" as the company begins laying off its Irish staff.
Richard Grogan, an employment law expert who has a growing following online especially on TikTok, has become well known for his no-nonsense breakdown of the law for those who are not well-versed. Taking to social media today after news broke that Twitter is expected to lay off hundreds of staff at its Dublin office, Mr Grogan said that there is a "storm starting" over employees being informed of redundancies via email.
He wrote in a Twitter post: "There is a storm starting over the issue of employees being advised of redundancy by email. In Ireland we have legislation relating to Collective Redundancy."
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Mr Grogan explained that the Minister for Jobs must be notified, and that there has to be a consultation period with staff or their union. He said: "If no Union then representatives of the staff must be appointed. It is not a question of here is a done deal .
"Where staff are excluded from premises or access to systems in an arbitrary fashion then this raises Employment Law issues also. Dismissal by email without going through procedures or restrictions on access raise the whole issue of Unfair Dismissal claims arising," he added.
Mr Grogan also warned that "redundancies are on the rise" in Ireland, with those in tech sector being most at risk of cuts. Earlier today, some staff in Twitter's Dublin office received emails telling them that they were being made redundant.
It follows the recent takeover of the company by Elon Musk this week, with the billionaire CEO of Tesla having bought the social media company for $44 billion with the help of backers, and Twitter said in an email to staff that it will alert employees by 4pm in Ireland about staff cuts.
Around 500 people are employed at Twitter's Dublin office. One former Twitter worker wrote on social media: "Woke up to the sad news that I'm no longer a Tweep.
It is understood that those being laid off have also been disconnected from the company's email and other internal systems. Elsewhere, online payment company Stripe, which is owned by Limerick brothers John and Patrick Collison, have begun laying off 1,000 of their 8,000 global employees - of which 600 are based in Dublin.
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