Absence audit | Tesla bosses make surprise visits to homes of workers on sick leave

The head of a Tesla factory has defended the controversial decision to send managers to the homes of employees on long-term sick leave, insisting that the practice is both common in the industry and aimed at promoting a strong work ethic among staff.

Approximately two dozen employees who had been on sick leave for over nine months were visited at home by managers from Tesla’s Berlin-Brandenburg plant in recent weeks.

Despite the backlash, André Thierig, the manufacturing director at the factory, explained that these visits were intended to “appeal to the employees’ work ethic” by encouraging workers to consider their responsibilities, noting that the individuals in question had been continuously paid during their absence.

Thierig’s comments have done little to quell the concerns of IG Metall, the union representing a portion of the factory’s 12,000 workers.