Tesla told Austin workers on its Model Y and Cybertruck lines to stay home for the week of Memorial Day, three workers told Business Insider.
The break is unusually long, the workers said. Production lines were up and running during the same period last year, they said.
The electric vehicle maker notified employees earlier this week. The workers, who are paid hourly, were told they could either take paid time off or come in for cleaning and training but would not be working on the production line.
Tesla deliveries dropped 13% year over year during the first quarter.
Take paid time off (PTO) means take your vacation time (or combined vacation/sick time). Otherwise no one would pick the “come in and clean or train” option.
I once worked at a place where every year they shut down the week between Christmas and New Year’s and you had to take a week of your vacation time then whether you wanted to or not (and we only got 2 weeks/yr). I started working there the first week of December, so I was immediately in the hole for 1 week of vacation time. It was such bullshit.
It could be worse, it could be the opposite. My brothers company does plant shutdowns in December and January, partly because too many people want off to keep the lines moving. However that’s also when they do maintenance, when they update the lines for new products, which my brothers company does does.
So, is it better to have forced vacation in December and January so the plant can shut down, or mandatory work Christmas week and Fourth of July week because you’re the guy updating the lines?