Sick Employees don’t Want Visits from Bosses
German media recently reported that managers at Tesla’s gigafactory near Berlin have visited the homes of at least 30 employees to make sure they were really sick. The managers were concerned that workers were exploiting the German social system, which gives workers up to six weeks of paid sick leave.
So what happened when they visited the homes of absent employees? According to the German newspaper Handelsblatt, some employees slammed doors on them and threatened to call the police.
It’s not just Tesla that subjects its sick employees to extra surveillance. On a Reddit forum, employees in India responded to the Tesla news by sharing stories of skeptical bosses. “I just remember when I fell down stairs and sprained my ankles badly,” one person wrote. “I was advised (to wear) a cast for two weeks and took leave for the same time. I was forced to submit photos of my cast, although I had submitted the doctor’s note.”
Another Reddit user described how a friend who worked for a Hyderabad firm was once admitted to the hospital for heat stroke and hooked to an IV for fluids. “The guy couldn’t even open his eyes properly,” the user wrote. “His manager and another senior from the office visited him in the hospital and they had the audacity to ask him when he can complete the reports because the deadlines were approaching!”
One woman, whose home was just five minutes from her workplace, described how her employer visited her when she called off sick with a slight fever.
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Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.
[Comments? Contributions? We would love to hear from you about Chai Time. If you have contributions, please email us at melvin@melvindurai.com. We welcome jokes, quotes, online clips, and more.]
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