"Tesla home checks on workers on sick leave defended by boss in Germany," 27 September 2024

The boss of a Tesla factory has defended the decision to send managers to the homes of workers on long-term sick leave. In recent weeks, a director of Tesla’s electric car plant in Germany sent managers to check up on about two dozen employees who have continued to be paid while being on sick leave over the past nine months. André Thierig, the plant’s manufacturing director, said the home visits were common practice in the industry and that the company simply wanted to “appeal to the employees’ work ethic”...

The union has campaigned against what it has alleged are harsh working conditions with “unreasonably” long hours and a poor health and safety record...

However, Thierig said some workers were taking advantage of Germany’s labour protection laws... “In our analyses of attendance at work, some phenomena have become obvious: on Fridays and late shifts, about 5% more employees take sick leave than on other weekdays,” Thierig said. “That is not an indicator of bad working conditions because the working conditions are the same on all working days and across all shifts. It suggests that the German social system is being exploited to some extent.”...

Tesla has been contacted for comment.