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Two workers, Carlos Gabriel and Jessica Naro, say that they received termination notices from Tesla last week after taking unpaid time off in an effort to avoid the coronavirus. The San Jose Mercury News first reported Gabriel's termination notice last week.
Both workers say that they were contacted this week by Tesla's HR department. Naro was given the opportunity to come back to work if she committed to a return date. She declined because her 6-year-old son has a health condition that puts him at heightened risk.
Gabriel ended his call after the Tesla rep refused to allow him to record it. He hasn't heard back since and believes he is no longer on Tesla's payroll
[...] "If you feel uncomfortable coming back to work at this time, please do not feel obligated to do so," Musk told employees in a May email prior to Tesla re-opening its factory.
[...] In its termination email, which Gabriel shared with the Mercury News, Tesla cited Gabriel's failure to respond to emails and voicemails inquiring when Gabriel would return to work. Gabriel said he didn't feel a need to respond because he had been told he could stay home if he felt unsafe. Gabriel and Naro told The Washington Post that they had both been in regular contact with their managers prior to the termination notices.
Tesla didn't respond to a Thursday email seeking comment for this story.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Rupert Pupnick on Saturday June 27 2020, @09:42PM
This is pretty much standard operating procedure for corporations, and hardly unique to Tesla (and I am not a Tesla fan). I once had to take a medical leave of absence from work, and as soon as I had to file for long term disability I was laid off. Unlike the workers in TFA, I received insurance payments, but if you have legitimate risk based health concerns and can’t make an insurance claim, you have to choose between two stark alternatives. It’s not good.
From the company’s point of view, you are holding a position that you cannot fill, and companies are loathe to create an identical “new position”— even if you aren’t getting paid during the leave.
In my case it was a blessing in disguise because the job sucked.