Tesla CEO Elon Musk told staff Sunday evening that the electric car maker was cutting more than 10% of its workforce, according to an internal memo seen by Business Insider. In individual layoff notices sent to affected workers in the hours after Musk sent the company-wide email, Tesla told workers they would receive their severance information dismissal “within 48 hours,” according to emails seen by BI.
The emails, which were sent to the workers’ personal email accounts, informed staff of their dismissal with immediate effect. Workers were also locked out of Tesla’s internal systems around the same time, several former workers said.
The automaker appears to be offering workers two months of severance pay, meaning workers will be paid through June 14, five former workers told Business Insider. The severance packages do not appear to be weighted based on how long workers have been at Tesla, as workers with between a few months and several years of experience at Tesla received the same number of weeks of pay, the five said. sources at BI. .
Under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), businesses that employ more than 100 workers are required to provide 60 days’ notice before a large-scale layoff. However, Tesla’s severance offer could face possible sanctions if it is found to have violated the WARN Act, which states that terminated employees may be entitled to up to 60 days of salary and benefits if they do not receive proper notice.
Tesla is also offering to pay the cost of COBRA health insurance for two months for workers with coverage through the company, according to a severance offer seen by BI.
In order to receive the severance package, laid-off workers must sign the proposed contract, which prohibits them from participating in any mass lawsuit or arbitration against the company, sharing company trade secrets, or publicly defaming Tesla. These types of clauses are relatively standard for severance agreements.
Tesla said the severance agreement must be signed within five business days of receipt and that workers will receive their severance pay 45 days after their termination date, according to a severance agreement viewed by BI.
While information about severance packages appears to have started trickling out overnight, several Tesla employees affected by the layoff told BI they had not yet received information about severance packages as of Wednesday Morning.
The severance agreement did not include any information regarding unused stock awards or PTOs. An exit email sent Tuesday to laid-off employees said Tesla workers had “either 30 days or 3 months (or both)” from their termination date to exercise their stock options acquired and that the staff would benefit from the PTO they had accumulated. until their termination date, paid with their final paycheck.
A Tesla spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Do you work for Tesla or have a tip? Contact the reporter via non-business email and device at gkay@businessinsider.com
businessinsider
