Tesla monitors employees' presence times - "pure control compulsion"
Created: 06/30/2022, 14:11
By: Julian Baumann
Attendance is mandatory at Tesla.
CEO Elon Musk apparently has this closely monitored.
© Jae C. Hong/dpa
Tesla boss Elon Musk is driving employees back into the office.
According to one report, attendance is strictly monitored - to the displeasure of employees.
Stuttgart/Austin - E-car manufacturer Tesla insists on compulsory attendance for employees.
While workers in car production, for example on the production line, cannot work from home anyway, Elon Musk is also forcing administrative employees back into the office.
The Tesla boss threatened employees with termination if they continued to work from home.
Since employees in the USA cannot refer to a collective agreement and the employer's right to direct applies, many followed the call or order.
At least the oldest Tesla factory in Fremont (California) was not at all prepared for the returnees.
Elon Musk is forcing employees back into the office, but there is no room for them.
According to a report by the news portal
Business Insider
, the Austin (Texas) automaker monitors how often employees use their company ID card and therefore how often they actually open the office.
The employees do not like the employer's monitoring and insight into the data at all, as bw24.de reports.
Tesla controls how often employees open the office - "required"
The internal email in which Tesla boss Elon Musk ordered his employees back to the offices said they had to be in an office of the US manufacturer at least 40 hours a week.
Otherwise, Tesla assumes that you have left the company.
With a total of around 100,000 employees worldwide, this is usually difficult to check.
On Tuesday, June 28, a Tesla employee posted a
screenshot of an email on the
Blind professional network.
It said it was determined that he had not used his home ID card for at least 16 days in the past month.
"You are receiving this email because there is no record of you using your ID to enter a Tesla factory for 16 days in the past 30 days," the letter said.
"As a reminder: All employees are required to work full-time in the office again." It is noted that there are of course reasons such as illness, vacation or business trips where attendance is not possible.
"In any case, you should clarify the reason for your absence with your manager by email and send a copy of the case to absence@tesla.com."
Tesla employees express displeasure with surveillance - "it's disrespectful"
The letterhead of the email that the Tesla employee posted on
Bling
states that the letter is an automatically generated message.
Accordingly, the notification of absences is not an isolated case.
A Tesla employee confirmed the authenticity of the email to
Business
Insider .
In the professional network, where verified employees can anonymously exchange information about their respective companies, other members expressed their displeasure with Tesla's surveillance.
"It feels wrong," wrote one worker.
"I can't quite put into words why it bothers me so much.
But it feels like crossing borders.
It's pure control.
It's disrespectful."
A system for recording the attendance time for employees is not new.
For example, many companies from various industries rely on a stamping system in which employees have to clock in at the start of their shift and clock out again after work.
The corona pandemic has fundamentally changed working life in many areas.
In many companies, however, employees who have organizational or administrative tasks and are therefore not tied to one location have the option of working from home.
The SAP HR manager said that employees are happier than ever because of this.
Tesla boss Elon Musk apparently thinks little of this possibility.