After waiting two months, hundreds of employees who were part of the first round of layoffs have received their separation papers. They have to decide if they want to join lawsuits against the company or not.
Several people familiar with the situation told Insider that the email that the former employees received was not related to the company's internal affairs.
Most of the people who received the email received it as a form of junk mail. The message directed people to a website that had the full separation agreement.
"We have had to reduce our global workforce to ensure the company's success moving forward, and your employment has been impacted," the website stated. You have remained in non-working notice, employed and on payroll since we notified you of your status, and this will continue through your separation date. If you sign a separation agreement and release, you are able to receive additional compensation.
Many laid off workers were considering whether or not to sign away their rights in exchange for a month of severance. The laid off workers at Facebook got six months of severance when they were laid off. The company gave its workers four months of severance when they were laid off.
One person who received an agreement said they wouldn't sign it and would participate in a lawsuit related to Musk's alleged violations of the merger agreement. More than 100 other employees have already signed on to legal actions. The person said that they would have been more likely to sign the agreements if they had come sooner.
The person said that imagine waiting so long and then getting this. The people who spoke with Insider asked not to be identified talking about private matters. The representative did not reply to the request.
Everything from the text spacing of the email to it redirecting to a website no one was familiar with made former employees wary. Many people are "prime targets" for phish attempts due to the long wait for the paperwork.
Two people with knowledge of the situation said that the site is legitimate and that it will be the way separation agreements will be distributed by the company. The official separation agreements show Musk's signature, as well as the website's official blue and white bird logo.
Two people familiar with the company said that workers who were laid off or resigned around November 4 are expected to get separation agreements. The people who resigned over Musk's email have not received an agreement to sign yet.
The separation agreements offer one month of pay to laid off employees as a form of compensation. Musk said that "everyone exited" and that it was 50% more than the law requires. The tech billionaire may have been referring to periods of non-working employment that later saw thousands of workers continue to be paid. Mass layoffs are required by state labor laws.
In order to receive the one month of additional pay, laid off workers must sign the contract being offered, which prohibits them from participating in any lawsuit or mass arbitration against the company. It's typical for such clauses. The agreements call for former employees to give up their stock payouts and bonuses.
Another person who received a separation agreement is not signing it.
Do you work for a tech company or someone who does? Contact Kali Hays at khays@insider.com, on the secure messaging app Signal, or through the official account on the social media platform. Use a non work device.
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