Tesla facing backlash for visiting homes of employees on sick leave to check

Last updated on October 7th, 2024 at 06:15 am

Tesla’s management in Germany is facing backlash for sending their managers to employee’s houses in order to check an attempt of rise in absenteeism rates at its Berlin manufacturing factory.

The move has resulted in an outrage among workers and unions who are stating that it infringes employee’s rights and is giving fuel to the fire to an already tense situation at the electric vehicle factory. Reports say Tesla’s managers visited the homes of employees who had called in sick. The managers were met angrily, workers slamming their doors and some even threatened to contact the police in response to the unexpected visits.

The company’s recent actions have led to debates about management’s working in employees’ absences.

Tesla Defends Home Visits

A senior director at Tesla’s Grunheide Plant, defended the managers stating that such visits were not unusual and were aimed at reinforcing the work ethics of the company’s employees. He argued that the rising absenteeism was due to Germany’s generous sick leave policies.

The automobile factory has reported a sick leave rate of 17 percent among its 12000 employees with higher absence on Fridays and late night shifts. The figure is way higher than the avg 5% absenteeism on sickness issues in the German automobile industry. To combat the situation, the EV manufacturer has introduced an attendance bonus of 1000 pounds for workers who complete 95 percent of the work in scheduled shifts.

Company managers and executives have expressed frustration over the high sick calls and labelling the behaviour as dishonourable and exploitation of the system.

Elon Musk Looks into matters

The CEO and owner of Tesla has also looked into the issue. Elon Musk was seen stating that he would be looking into the high rates of absenteeism at the Berlin plant. Musk is known for having created and managing a very demanding work culture at the company he is incharge of and often spends late nights working at the production line himself.