Tesla Motors Under Fire for Alleged Labor Law Violations in California

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Two former Tesla Motors employees claim in a proposed class action that the automaker has committed numerous California labor law violations, including failing to pay them and other warehouse workers proper minimum, regular and overtime wages.

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The 34-page lawsuit alleges Tesla Motors has also breached the California Labor Code by failing to give employees adequate meal and rest breaks, reimburse them for out-of-pocket business expenses, timely pay all final wages upon termination and provide accurate wage statements and proper paid sick leave.

As the suit tells it, the automaker has routinely required warehouse employees to work off-the-clock by forcing them to perform equipment checks and other tasks before clocking in for their shifts, or by interrupting their meal or rest breaks.

Before clocking in, workers were required to “badge in” through multiple checkpoints as they entered the facility—a process which apparently took around 15 minutes, the case relays. Employees were required to undergo this process again after clocking out at the end of their shifts, the complaint says. Per the filing, workers were not compensated for these off-the-clock hours, as required by state law.

The lawsuit goes on to claim that because it took approximately 10 minutes to travel each way to and from the cafeteria for meal breaks, Tesla Motors has deprived employees of their requisite 30-minute break periods. Per the suit, the company has also failed to provide adequate rest breaks, as workers’ cleanup and travel time to the break area made it impossible for them to get a full 10-minute rest period.

Moreover, the case alleges that the automaker has required warehouse employees to work in unsafe conditions without air conditioning and meet illegal quotas that prevented compliance with California labor laws.

As the complaint tells it, Tesla Motors’ quotas “[denied] proper access to rest breaks and bathroom time, [and] cause[d] employees to have to work at speeds beyond those which are safe and without proper periods of rest, causing unnecessary injuries.”

The company further violated the state’s quota laws by failing to disclose to workers the requirements of each quota and the consequences—which could include termination—should they fail to meet it, the filing contends.

Finally, Tesla Motors has purportedly failed to include all regularly earned bonuses in the calculation of employees’ standard rates of pay, meaning workers received break premiums and overtime, sick and vacation pay at incorrect hourly rates, the case charges.

The lawsuit looks to represent any current or former non-exempt Tesla Motors employees who work or worked at a warehouse in California at any time in the past four years.

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