Dive Brief:
- Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, called a union supporter’s scathing criticism of the company “outright false,” as he released the findings of his investigation into the allegations, reports Tech Crunch. Jose Moran, an employee and UAW advocate, accused Tesla of unfair practices in employee compensation, safety and work hours.
- Countering Moran’s safety claims, Musk said Tesla’s total recordable incident rate is below 3.3, or less than half of the industry’s average of 6.7. Musk defended Tesla’s compensation rates, calling the company shares and stock purchase program for employees unique in the auto industry, and the company’s average 43-hour workweek, in which he said overtime has been cut in half.
- Musk also spoke about Tesla’s fun benefits, which include frozen yogurt stands around the plant and a Tesla electric pod car to transport employees across the company’s campus.
Dive Insight:
When Amazon was accused of having a cutthroat employee culture last year, it spent almost the rest of the year announcing a variety of employee-focused programs set to end such accusations, including an experiment with a group of part-time workers that receive the benefits of full-timers. Conducting audits on company policy and practice are also key behaviors for any companies that face calls of wrongdoing.
Musk added information about the fun benefits Tesla offers employees. But as some studies show, fun or unusual benefits alone don’t always have the positive effect on employee engagement and productivity as management thinks. Companies must give employees a sense of ownership over their work in order to see success.
