Some staff at Meta Ireland have sought legal advice over the tech giant’s decision to cut some jobs in the Republic as part of a wider cull of what chief executive Mark Zuckerberg described as “low-performers”.
Employees based here have taken to a social media messaging platform since February 12th, when they began to find out whether their roles were affected by the cuts, to discuss their experiences.
In response to questions, a spokeswoman for Meta said: “We have the highest confidence in the fairness and robustness of our performance review process and impacted employees are being provided with generous severance packages. We intend to backfill these roles”.
However, in anonymous communications, seen by The Irish Times, some staff said they had sought advice from solicitors, querying the legality of their so-called performance-based dismissals.
Speaking on Friday, one employment law expert said it does not accord with Irish law.
However, he said staff were being offered severance packages generous enough that it makes “no sense” for the employees to challenge the process in the Workplace Relations Commission because they would end up with less money.
If the roles were being made redundant, Meta would have to open a 30-day consultation period with staff to discuss their future with the company.
This has not happened in the case of the most recent job cuts, which Mr Zuckerberg described in a company memo as being performance-based. He characterised the cuts, which are targeting around 5 per cent of Meta’s global workforce, as an acceleration of its typical process of “managing out” low-performers during the year.
Some staff in the Republic have claimed they were not given any notice that the company considered their performance to be sub-par. This is required under Irish employment law before an employer dismisses someone based on their performance.
In one post, a staff member said they had not received negative ratings in any of their performance reviews in their more than five years with the company.
Another told The Irish Times that some of their colleagues had received a “good rating” in their midyear performance review last year and had received no subsequent negative performance signals before Meta told them they were losing their jobs last week.
The Financial Services Union (FSU), which represents some Meta workers in the Republic, said on Friday that it has not received any clarity from the Department of Enterprise on the matter, despite having written to Minister Peter Burke last week.
The union, which set up a hotline for Meta Ireland staff to call and ask for confidential advice, asked the Fine Gael TD whether he had received any communication from Meta or if he had informed them of their obligations under Irish redundancy law.
Gareth Murphy, head of industrial relations at the FSU, said on Friday that the union had “deep concerns” about how the process was being managed.
“Clarity is required from Meta on how many roles are been made redundant, how many employees are affected and whether this is a collective redundancy situation,” he said.
“The Minister For Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke needs to ensure that Irish redundancy law is been adhered to by Meta and his Department needs to be transparent in what dealings and communications they have had with Meta on this issue.”
