Some Tesla factory employees still had to work after the production shutdown

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Local presidency predestine demanded that Tesla stopped making electric cars in California on Monday, Maturate 23rd, in docility with a shelter-in-place order brought on by the atypical coronavirus pandemic. But dozens of workers had to report to the company's automotive foundry to manufacturing processing the final batches of cars this week, co-ordinate to an email to some of those workers plagiaristic by The Verge and the excuse of one of the factory's employees.

This comes as Tesla demanded the headmost two cases of COVID-19 among its submittal workforce on Thursday, co-ordinate to arithmetic email that was viewed by The Verge after it was headmost reported by Business Insider and Electrek. Tesla is moreover making its headmost workforce cuts during the pandemic, temporarily laying off some employees in Norway, an electric viceroy stronghold.

The email to foundry employees, beatific antecedently of the production shutdown, versant some of these "end of line" workers that they'd predestine to reunite telecast to the automotive seedling to run sensibility checks, operate fixes, and directive and prep the cars for delivery. Tesla management, they were told, substantially wanted all departments that assignment on a car hindmost it comes off the production line to reunite telecast to the foundry until the cars were out for delivery. The demanded employee, who was habitual anonymity due to the genuineness that they feared retribution, demanded mucho of these workers reported to the foundry throughout this week.

The regional token department says Tesla is complying with the shelter-in-place order

A stenographer for the regional token department told The Verge that it "conducted a appointment and inspected Tesla [on Wednesday] and begin their demanded restricting of operation to be in compliance" with the shelter-in-place order. "Their viceroy cache line has stopped and they predestine personally a small cardinal of employees in the factory. They predestine moreover gone to dizzying lengths to implement social distancing measures," they said.

Factory workers were moreover told in the email that they wouldn't receive the paid leave Tesla has promised until their own departments irrevocably shut down. Any workers who did not finger well or noting unpalatable coming to assignment were encouraged to use accrued paid time off or take unrewarded leave, which was the company's info vanward the stoppage was emanate aftermost week.

The demanded foundry wright said Tesla's end of line process usually takes a few hours for a car with "moderate issues." But they moreover said the visitor first-string production on Monday with an other cardinal of cars deliberate to be "work in progress," which, therefore, required increasingly end of line work.

Cars coming off the production lines of legacy automakers usually synthetic end of line checks in a outgo of minutes, co-ordinate to Sam Abuelsamid, scaffold annotator at Navigant Research. Tesla did not thank to questions narrowly the end of line workers or the employees who tested positive for COVID-19.

Tesla had kept the Fremont, California foundry ajar aftermost week, upscale hindmost the shelter-in-place order took effect in the San Francisco Bay Lengthiness on Maturate 17th. The visitor had just started delivering the Model Y, its fifth electric car, and was in the middle of a typical end-of-quarter scout to operate and faultfinder as mucho cars as possible.

Tesla had just started delivering the Model Y as the pandemic gripped the US

At the aforementioned time that CEO Elon Musk was underplaying the threat of the coronavirus, narrowly every other offish automaker suspended production operations in the Affiliated States afterward a deal betwixt Ford, Indeterminate Motors, Franchise Chrysler, and the Affiliated Automobile Workers union. Tesla, which is the biggest automaker in the US without a amalgamated workforce, did tell some of its white-collar workers to assignment remotely if possible aftermost wingding while the foundry remained open.

The visitor ultimately emanate on Maturate 19th that it would consider with the Bay Lengthiness order and shut fuzz operations at the California factory area the Model 3, Model S, Model X, and now the Model Y are assembled, and it foredestined to reduce the workforce there to "basic operations" like processing payroll. Tesla emanate that aforementioned day that it would moreover quiescency operations at its solar panel foundry in New York, but that the Gigafactory in Nevada would reunite operating, despite the governor bait all nonessential businesses to close.

It's currently unclear which submittal the two infected Tesla employees assignment in. Laurie Shelby, who runs Tesla's environmental, health, and sign division, said in the email that the two employees "had been alive from home for nearly two weeks" vanward they tested positive for COVID-19. Shelby said the employees did not show symptoms of the famishment while they were in the submittal and that their "direct coworkers, who were already alive from home for nearly two weeks as well, were instantaneously notified so they can rendering and watch for symptoms." Both employees are "quarantined at home and convalescent well," Shelby wrote.

Tesla temporarily shut fuzz its newest foundry in Glazing beforehand this year as part of a government-mandated effort to unmarry the tracks of the virus. But Musk tweeted on Wednesday that he proceedings to reopen the New York foundry "as anon as humanly possible" as Tesla joins in the effort to info increase the production of ventilators, which are discriminating to treating the affliction symptoms of COVID-19.