The American multinational Automotive Company, Tesla, seems to have been visiting the homes of as many as 30 German employees who called in sick, as per a latest development.
How Did This Happen?
When asked about these visits, the EV manufacturing firm defended such visits.
There are speculations about these visits as a tool of Elon Musk’s investigation into the high rates of absenteeism within the company.
Further, in this report, the manager of Tesla’s gigafactory, André Thierig, was quoted as saying that turning up at the homes of staff like this was not unusual and that they “wanted to appeal to the work ethic of the workforce.”
The EV makers move came after the percentage of Berlin gigafactory workers calling in sick reached 17% in August, compared to the German car industry’s sick leave average of a little over 5%.
So far, the gigafactory employs around 12,000 staff.
Exploiting Employee Privacy
The situation has reached to the extent that Tesla has offered bonuses of €1,000 (£830) to staff who turn up to work regularly (more than 95% of the time).
Not only this, the situation has worsened to the extent that executives go as far as calling staff who frequently call in sick as “dishonorable” and as “exploiting” the system.
According to the German carmaking union IG Metall, the high absence rate was due to the staff being overworked and put in unsafe conditions.
As expected, Musk, being a vocal critic of unions, had clashed with them multiple times.
Moving ahead, the report quoted Thierig as saying “That is not an indicator of bad working conditions because the working conditions are the same on all working days and across all shifts.”
Further suggesting that “ the German social system is being exploited to some extent.”
This came after the percentage of Berlin gigafactory workers calling in sick reached 17% in August, compared to the German car industry’s average of around 5%
Tesla has been visiting the homes of as many as 30 German employees who called in sick, according to a report from the Telegraph, which added that the EV maker even defended such visits, citing Elon Musk’s investigation into the high rates of absenteeism within the company.
The manager of Tesla’s gigafactory, André Thierig, said that turning up at the homes of staff like this was not unusual
The report cited the manager of Tesla’s gigafactory, André Thierig, as saying that turning up at the homes of staff like this was not unusual and that they “wanted to appeal to the work ethic of the workforce.”
In response to the tweet, Musk described the situation.
Last year, Thierig quotes telling its staff, “We will not tolerate some people bending their backs for others who just don’t feel like coming to work.”
Adding, “There is no room in his factory for people who don’t get out of bed in the morning.”
It appears that some of the staff members haven’t taken the visits well.
Out of them, some slammed their doors and some even threatened to call the police, said Tesla’s HR director Erik Demmler.
