X Wants Money Back From Sacked Staff, Says They Were "Overpaid": Report

Billionaire Elon Musk's X has asked its sacked employees in Australia to return the money it claims was accidentally overpaid to them, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, acknowledged its error in currency conversion from the US to Australian dollars on the payments and asked its former employees to repay amounts of up to $70,000 in some cases, the report said on Wednesday. 

The currency conversion errors made by X when employees were paid their entitlements after they were fired had reportedly led to overpayments of between $1,500 and $70,000. According to the report, at least six former X staff have received legal notices.

"It has come to our attention that you received a significant overpayment in error in January 2023," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted X's Asia Pacific human resources department as saying, citing an email to several former employees this year.

"We would be grateful if you could arrange the repayment to us at your earliest convenience," it added.

Elon Musk-led company also said that the overpayment was related to "deferred cash compensation" in the form of employee shares issued to the staff when they joined Twitter.

X has been accused in multiple suits of numerous labor and workplace violations, including failing to pay severance to thousands of workers fired after Musk's $44 billion acquisition in 2022.

Earlier last year, thousands of former Twitter employees said they were cheated of severance pay when the billionaire laid them off after acquiring the social media platform.