It is still unclear how the situation will develop further, but Tesla is known worldwide for its high demands on employees.
At the Tesla factory in Grünheide, the first and only European production facility of the American car manufacturer, absenteeism due to illness is high. According to a recent post According to the Handelsblatt report, which is based on an audio recording of an employee meeting, management has intervened by carrying out unannounced checks on employees who have reported sick.
According to the report, factory manager André Thierig and HR manager Erik Demmler informed the staff during the meeting about the latest figures. In calendar week 32, at the beginning of August, the absenteeism rate was said to have been 15 percent and in the following week it had even risen to 17 percent. "The factory in Grünheide was then closed for two weeks," Demmler said. In September, the absenteeism rate among permanent employees had dropped to a level of between ten and eleven percent. It was striking, however, that only two percent absenteeism was recorded among temporary workers.
drastic measure
In order to gain more insight into the cause of the high number of sick leave cases, Tesla decided on a drastic measure: unannounced home visits to sick employees. According to Demmler, 30 employees were selected who had been sick for a long time and had submitted multiple short sick leave applications. "This is not a general suspicion," Demmler emphasized, according to the "Handelsblatt". "We simply selected 30 employees with striking patterns, such as long-term sick leave or many first statements." The aim of these checks was to gain a better picture of the cause of the high absenteeism.
Employees’ reactions to these unexpected visits were mixed. Some employees responded kindly, while others kept their doors closed or even threatened to call the police, Demmler said. “We felt a latent form of aggression,” he admitted. The employee meeting also discussed the fact that some employees feel uncomfortable with these kinds of measures.
The topic of sick employee checks is a sensitive issue in many companies. Although labor law allows for check-ups under certain circumstances, they are uncommon in many companies. It remains a difficult balance between the need for employers to monitor sick leave and the right of employees to privacy. In the case of Tesla, the measures taken seem particularly strict, which is probably due to the high absenteeism rates and the impact on production.
temporary workers
In addition to the discussions about absenteeism at Tesla, it is also known that the company is currently negotiating with the works council about the early takeover of temporary workers. According to the "Handelsblatt", absenteeism among temporary workers is significantly lower than among permanent employees. Only two percent of temporary workers were absent in the weeks under discussion. This difference seems to have led to considerations to take on more temporary workers on a permanent basis.
Tesla's factory in Grünheide, which opened in March 2022, has been the subject of several controversies since its inception, including issues in the areas of labor law and personnel policy. The construction of the factory was already surrounded by protests from environmental activists at the time, who opposed Tesla's location in the nature reserve. Now, personnel management and especially the handling of sick employees seems to be a new point of contention between Tesla and German work culture.
