Tesla faces German backlash over sick leave policies at factory
In the Tesla factory in Grünheide, there is an escalation of a dispute regarding employee absenteeism. The American electric car manufacturer sends letters to employees on sick leave and withholding salary payments. Tesla claims that the scale of the phenomenon is minimal.
Elon Musk's company is experiencing an exceptionally high level of absenteeism at its German factory in Grünheide. According to the German daily Handelsblatt, Tesla is withholding salary payments from sick employees and demanding that they disclose their diagnoses. It also wants doctors to be released from their duty of confidentiality.
Tesla questions sick leave
According to the publication, Tesla is sending letters to its employees titled "Doubts Regarding Submitted Certificates of Incapacity for Work." In these documents, the company announces the immediate suspension of sick leave payments and threatens to demand a refund of amounts already paid.
The American electric car manufacturer is also pressuring its employees to reveal details of their diagnoses for "every confirmed sick leave". The company further demands that employees allow their doctors to be released from the obligation of confidentiality.
Previous reports by "Handelsblatt" indicated that Tesla's management in Germany also took other unusual actions: company representatives were said to have made unannounced visits to employees' homes while they were on sick leave.
The actions taken by Tesla against employees on sick leave raise questions about compliance with German labour law, which traditionally provides strong protection for employees, especially in the case of health issues, notes "Handelsblatt".
Tesla: the scale of the problem is minimal
The labour union IG Metall confirmed the accusations against Tesla regarding withholding salary payments for sick employees. According to the union's spokesperson, "not a single euro was often passed on" to individuals on sick leave.
Tesla refutes the allegations, explaining that the problem concerns only "about a dozen cases per month" with a workforce of 11,000 workers. The company described the union's actions as "populist scandal-mongering" and "a deliberate distortion of reality".
Tesla's problems
Problems at the Grünheide factory coincide with Tesla's broader business challenges. The company recently recorded a significant drop in new vehicle registrations in China, a key market for it.
At the same time, Elon Musk's company's stock market value has drastically fallen in recent weeks, with capitalisation dropping by hundreds of billions of dollars. In the European market, Tesla is also experiencing difficulties, as despite the overall increase in electric car registrations, sales of this brand have noticeably declined.
The German factory in Grünheide, opened in 2022, is Tesla's first European production facility and plays a key role in the company's strategy in Europe.
