Tesla Germany withholds pay for sick workers and tries to coerce them into signing termination agreements.

https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/industrie/tesla-behaelt-lohn-kranker-mitarbeiter-in-gruenheide-ein/100113273.html

by Pellaeon112

34 comments

  1. Reposted because mods deleted the first one because apparently my title wasn’t reflected in the articles contents (it was).

    So here the part of the article that reflects my headline.

    “In der Tesla-Fabrik in Grünheide spitzt sich der Konflikt zwischen Management und Belegschaft zu. Der US-Autobauer verschickt offenbar in großem Umfang Schreiben an krankgemeldete Mitarbeiter, in denen die Echtheit ärztlicher Atteste angezweifelt wird. [Dem Handelsblatt vorliegende Dokumente](https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/industrie/tesla-behaelt-lohn-kranker-mitarbeiter-in-gruenheide-ein/100113273.html) zeigen, dass Tesla die Lohnfortzahlung im Krankheitsfall stoppt und bereits gezahlte Beträge zurückfordert.

    *Tesla zweifelt in großem Umfang ärztliche Atteste an, verweigert die Entgeltfortzahlung im Krankheitsfall und behält Entgelt ein”*, erklärt IG-Metall-Bezirksleiter Dirk Schulze. Das Unternehmen treibe damit Beschäftigte in finanzielle Notlagen. Auf Anfragen des Handelsblatts zu diesen Vorwürfen reagierte Tesla nicht.

    Die Briefe tragen den Betreff *”Zweifel an den eingereichten Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigungen”*. Betroffene Mitarbeiter werden dazu gedrängt, ihre Diagnosen offenzulegen und behandelnde Ärzte von der Schweigepflicht zu entbinden. Die IG Metall bestätigte dem Handelsblatt, dass es sich nicht um Einzelfälle handle.”

    And…

    “Sie berichten, dass kranke Kollegen durch finanziellen Druck zur Arbeit gezwungen würden. In einem dem Handelsblatt vorliegenden Schreiben heißt es: ‘*Wir haben festgestellt, dass Du nach unseren Unterlagen eine Überbezahlung erhalten hast. Grund hierfür ist, dass Du irrtümlich während Deiner unbezahlten Abwesenheit bezahlt wurdest.’*

    In persönlichen Gesprächen werde den Betroffenen nahegelegt, Aufhebungsverträge zu unterschreiben, um die Forderungen loszuwerden – andernfalls verfalle dieses Angebot”

  2. Every single lawyer in German labor law is drooling right now.

  3. They need to do research on what happened to Walmart after they tried to avoid german labor laws

  4. Does a membership in a union come with an employment legal protection insurance?

  5. In Germany? You’re in Europe, mate — not in dystopian USA.

  6. Nothing funnier than Americans trying to operate in countries with laws and rights for workers.

  7. You would think they try to stay low especially in eu.
    But no fuck it.

  8. So they’re:

    1. Saying people are lying about illness.
    2. Demand they disclose every diagnosis however much the person has a right for that to be secret.
    3. Demanding a cancellation of Doctor anonymity so, presumably, they can phone the doctor and say “so are they lying about cancer or what?”

    Am I keeping up?

  9. I pity Tesla really, the company had alot of potential. Especially with what they could do with solar panels and batteries for homes.

    Well RIP Tesla

  10. I’m right over the border and I’ve been sick for almost a month. There’s some bug here that’s almost COVID like.
    If I were in the US is be fired for sure.
    Thank goodness for EU labor laws.

  11. So what do we recon, have they lubed up their assholes yet or are they trying to take that shit raw

  14. Oh, that strategy is not going to pan out for Tesla. Not in Germany, not in any other European country in fact.

  15. This is why these US ultra capitalists can fuck right off out of Germany.

  16. First off, you do not fuck around with regulations in Germany.

    Secondly, if for some ketamine induced reason you do fuck around with regulations in Germany, DO NOT fuck around with worker’s rights regulations.

  18. Tell me Elon is evil without telling me that Elon is evil.

  19. Tesla is violating the law.. What a shock,

    Whoever receives such a letter should do 2 things:

    1)Go to the next police station and file a complaint for coercion against the person who sent the letter and one against the company for fraud

    2)Make a appointment with your doctor because of psychological stress caused by this illegal behavior.

  20. A more mature an measured approach would have them analyzing the reasons for the high sick days.
    Like the fact that this Tesla factory has an unusual high amount of work related accidents:

    > At the end of September, the German weekly magazine Stern started an investigative report series “Inside Tesla” that raised serious concerns against Tesla and Brandenburg politicians.[116] Accusations included a high number of serious violations of occupational health and safety and environmental regulations. The reports cited three times as many emergencies occurred at Grünheide as compared to the similarly-sized Audi factory in Ingolstadt.[117]

    As well as the extremely high pressure and stress environment.

    >The workers criticized the workload as “extreme” due to short cycle times, a lack of personnel and excessive production targets. Employees also pointed to serious deficiencies in health protection, which led to sickness rates of up to around 30 percent and a high number of work accidents.[126] When the union put up stickers in 2023 that read, “Our health is more important than the next billion to Elon,” Tesla warned of disciplinary action that included termination without notice.[126]

    Source:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigafactory_Berlin-Brandenburg#Incidents

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigafactory_Berlin-Brandenburg#Labor_relations

  21. Musk is doing a twitter again. For someone who is against abortions he sure is killing a lot of his “babies”

  23. How desperate can you paint yourself?

    Tesla: raises right arm!

  25. “Elon & German labor laws!”
    Finally! I knew this would be fun.
    He didn’t take any government money (comes withs responsibilities) and thought that would seal the deal. Grab some popcorn, that is going to get very costly for his Elmoness.
    Seizure of the complex is possible (wishful thinking) for the salute and the denial!

  26. I’ve got two slipped discs, which leaves me in excruciating pain for months at a time. My previous employer was like “take all the time you need”, last time I was out, I was out from the last week of October to the first week of January. Our secretary helped me to seek special benefits for long time illness, and helped me get in a programme at the municipal administration, that allowed me, when I got back, to work the hours I could manage, and get my salary covered by the health system. This went on for 4 months, by that time I’ve found work more suitable for my back problem, they were sorry to let me go, but wished me all the luck in my future endeavours. I’m electrician by trade.

  27. Welcome to German labor laws. Have fun bashing your head against that wall, Elon. My popcorn is ready.

  28. You either respect German workers right and laws, or you get the fuck out of Europe.

    Ultra-capitalist scum.

  29. Elon Musk did not become the world’s richest man by being a good or honest person.

    As AOC has said, Elon got rich by taking wealth from working people and putting it in his pocket. Elon doesn’t make anything. The workers do. Elon pays them as little as he can get away with for their labor. And Elon TAKES the rest for himself.

    Anyone who buys a Tesla is supporting this greedy, arrogant asshole.

  30. I was living in Germany at the time the factory deal was announced, and wondered how long it would take until they started having altercations with Germany working culture and employment law … surprised it lasted this long actually.

  31. Looks like Christmas is coming early for some German labour law lawyers.

  32. A bit of context from a german lawyer: When an employee is sick, he gets paid for 6 week. Afterwards he gets Krankengeld from the public health insurance.

    To get the money, he has to explain and if necessary prove what illness he has, BUT: this is always done through a certificate of incapacity by a doctor free of charge. So normally you go to the doctor, get the certificate and get the money.

    Recently, the highest labour court ruled that the certificate loses it’s value if there are highly suspicious circumstances and in the interest of thourough investigation by the court the employee must describe their illness and the doctor has to be heard as a witness. Until then, the employer naturally withheld the money. In this specific case, the employee gave his notice of termination together with the certificate, that covered exactly the period of notice of termination, which was indeed highly suspicious.

    Now it’s become a bit of a fad among bad employers to always contest the certificates value, no matter the circumstances. I’ve personally had a dozens such cases and never once did the employer win, but of course the employee will miss the six weeks of sick pay until the court makes it’s verdict, which takes circa 6 months.

    It does not surprise me in the least that Tesla is now jumping on that bandwagon to pressure their employees financially.

  33. This is the real reason why Felon hates the EU. Strong labor laws. 

  34. They will get the BIG fist of Germany’s super strong worker’s protection hitting them very hard in the face.

    They can be happy if they will be allowed or able to continue business. At least they’ll have to pay a huge fine but there is more at stake like closure of the factory and imprisonment for the managers.

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