The number of sick days at the US electric car manufacturer Tesla in Grünheide near Berlin has fallen significantly.
“Our sickness rate is currently just under 5 percent,” the company said. The “Handelsblatt” had previously reported on it. According to factory manager André Thierig at the time, in 2024 the proportion would be 15 percent or more. According to the car manufacturer, the low sickness rate is a result of internal measures taken in recent years.
In the Tesla boss’s only car factory in Europe Elon Musk There were currently 10,700 employees working in Brandenburg. Due to increased demand, the company plans to hire 1,000 new employees by the end of June in order to increase production by around a fifth. A little over two years ago, around 12,400 people worked at the plant.
A spokesman cited a bonus system that rewards attendance over the course of the year as an example of internal measures. This means that “the noticeably increased absences on Mondays and Fridays have decreased significantly”. To this end, the sports program was expanded: In addition to an existing fitness studio, two sports fields for football or basketball were opened. There are also offers for employees with fitness and ergonomics trainers.
Tesla is considering stopping continued payment of wages in several cases
The “Handelsblatt” also wrote that Tesla is sending more letters, as it did in 2024, informing employees on sick leave that their continued payment of wages would be stopped. The car manufacturer rejected this. There is a small double-digit number of cases per month in which there are discussions about stopping continued payment of wages.
It is the case that “in a few individual cases it is checked whether there is still a right to continued payment of wages despite the expiry of the statutory six-week period of continued wage payment,” said a spokesman. “The employee is asked to prove the existence of this entitlement. If this proof is successful, wages will continue to be paid.”
The company is relying on a 2023 ruling by the Federal Labor Court, according to which employees must disclose their complaints and release their doctors from their obligation of confidentiality in the event of a dispute about the continuation of an illness.
Union: Doubts about sick leave
According to IG Metall, Tesla doubts medical certificates in several cases and refuses to continue paying wages in the event of illness: “Around half of our legal protection cases involve doubts about sick leave and (threatened) cessation of continued payment of wages or retroactive deductions,” said a spokesman. This has been the case for more than a year.
Around two years ago, Tesla caused a stir with home visits from employees who were often on sick leave and pointed out that this was nothing unusual.
In premarket trading on NASDAQ, Tesla shares gained a minimal 0.06 percent to $376.23.
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GRÜNHEIDE (dpa-AFX)
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