Ola Källenius, the Swedish-German CEO of Mercedes-Benz, believes that the car manufacturer’s employees have far too much sick leave – and that this is something that directly harms the business.
– When sick leave in German car factories is occasionally double that of other European countries, it leads to economic repercussions… High sickness rates in Germany pose a challenge for businesses, he says in an interview with Der Spiegel.
He points out that sick leave is lower in other countries where they operate – such as Hungary, Romania, Spain and Poland.
The move comes shortly after US electric car manufacturer Tesla caused a stir when it emerged that managers at its Grünheide plant in Germany were making “home visits” to check whether employees on sick leave were actually at home resting – again citing unusually high sickness rates.
However, the IG Metall union says Tesla is jeopardizing the health of its employees by having too small a workforce and insufficient occupational health and safety.
The Mercedes CEO says the company already does a lot for its employees – “from occupational health and ergonomic work processes to health counseling, flu shots, and resilience training” – and that employees also need to “make an effort to improve“.
Other German company bosses, such as Allianz CEO Oliver Bälte, have also recently criticized German workers, pointing out how they are on sick leave more often than staff in the US or Switzerland.