Disease cases: IG Metall accumulates Tesla intimidation of the workforce

The IG Metall union accuses the management of the Tesla plant in Grünheide to intimidate the workforce. Specifically, it is about recognizing sick leave, said a spokesman for IG Metall. “In a first step, Tesla often doubts sick leave from employees and urges to disclose diagnoses and to give the doctors from confidentiality.” The “Handelsblatt” had previously reported on the conflict.

Tesla speaks of a few cases

On the other hand, Tesla kept on request: “We are now used to the populist scandalizations of IG Metall (…),” said a statement by the company. The “large scope” described by the union are around a dozen cases a month – mind you at a workforce of 11,000 employees. “To speak of a massive approach here is a conscious distortion of reality.”

IG Metall: Tesla is said to have withheld wages

In several cases, Tesla is said to have withheld the wages of the sick party according to the IG Metall union. “It is not uncommon for a single euro to be transferred,” said the IG Metall spokesman. Often the car manufacturer was still approaching the employees to have determined an “overpayment” with the statement, since the employee was mistakenly paid for during the absenteeism. They would go away from these “debts” by signing a termination agreement.

Company defends procedure

Tesla defended the procedure as justified. “Incidentally, we speak of cases in which unauthorized continued payments were carried out,” said a company spokeswoman. In addition, there would be cases in which the Federal Labor Court assumes that an illness could have been advanced, for example if someone would have been sick for exactly the time for which a vacation application had been rejected. In such cases there are doubts about the correctness of the certificate of incapacity for work and employers may request evidence, the spokeswoman said. “The supposedly unacceptable approach of Teslas is common practice in Germany.”

Many legal disputes

In the cases described, IG Metall sees “inadmissible intimidation”. “In almost all cases, the supposed overpayments are nothing but baseless claims,” ​​said Dirk Schulze, IG Metall district manager Berlin-Brandenburg-Sachsen. The cases would have led to a flood of legal disputes. “At Tesla in Grünheide, members need around 21 times as often the legal protection of the union as on the average of IG Metall,” said the union spokesman.

Musk complains high sickness

Tesla founder Elon Musk had criticized the high sick leave of the workforce in Grünheide months ago. The “Handelsblatt” already reported on the Tesla leadership with sick factory staff. The union also criticized this measure sharply.