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I remember an article[0] from mid-March saying Tesla employees could have up to two weeks paid time off if they didn't feel comfortable coming back after the sh

I remember an article[0] from mid-March saying Tesla employees could have up to two weeks paid time off if they didn't feel comfortable coming back after the shelter-in-place order was lifted. Is paid time off not a big thing in the US? I would have thought Tesla would have good employee benefits, or would it not really cover wanting to be off for preventative reasons if they're not currently sick. I work for a tech company in the UK and they pay up to a full year of full sick pay, then reduced for up to five years. We're covered under that if we're advised to stay at home due to having pre-existing medical conditions or advised to by a doctor, or if showing any symptoms and thus self-isolating. [0] https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/13/tesla-employees-who-dont-return-to-work-could-lose-unemployment-benefits/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/13/tesla-employees-who-dont-r...

Ididntdothis 6y ago
In the US you often get 10-20 sick days per year, not more. Edit: This is what I have experienced and I meant this as a ridiculously low number. I had no idea that people would get even less.
- TylerE 6y ago
  You mean 1-2? The vast majority in the US don’t get 10 days of vacation, never mind sick/personal days.
- jeffbee 6y ago
  The majority of hourly wage workers in the US do not get any paid sick days at all.
  - vinay427 6y ago
    That's not true in the states I've lived in and a few others I spot checked. I couldn't find a list with every state yet.
    - TylerE 6y ago
      Only required by law in 12 states + DC
      - vinay427 6y ago
        For the purposes of my curiosity, do you have a list? I'm wondering if those states actually include a majority of Americans.
        TylerE 6y ago
        Arizona, California, Connecticut, DC, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington
        testbot123 6y ago
        Maine doesn't go into effect until 2021. Rough population count [1] of those states divided by population of 50 states + DC is 0.3032003614019388. Edit: most of those are also capped at 40 hours a year, which amount to one week maximum sick leave. [2] [1] Per https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_pop... [2] https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/paid-sick-leave.aspx https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/paid-sick..., via https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/12/as-coronavirus-spreads-which-u-s-workers-have-paid-sick-leave-and-which-dont/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/12/as-coronavi...
  - benglish11 6y ago
    In California (where this Tesla factory is located) sick leave is required by law for all employees.
    - TylerE 6y ago
      Only 5 days though, not weeks.
- ardy42 6y ago
  > In the US you often get 10-20 sick days per year, not more. If you get that many in the US, you're probably actually getting "PTO," which combines sick days and paid vacation to make the vacation benefit seem better than it actually is. For instance, I knew someone who worked for a company literally called Grimco, who only got 10 days PTO per year.
vikramkr 6y ago
Paid time off/sick leave is already rare enough in the US, I don't think tesla has any incentive to really go above and beyond there. They don't need to attract talent using things like compensation and benefits or showing basic human decency in caring about their health during a pandemic. The cult of personality is really strong around Elon (and that's not a diss in any way, he's so powerfully charismatic and driven that he's willed a rocket company and an electric car company into existence). He's got a natural ability to get some of the best technical talent and financiers to believe in him and his vision and spend ridiculously long hours on their mission of saving the world while they could have far more comfortable jobs elsewhere. Why would you complain about long hours and unsafe conditions when you're boss who is basically a real life iron man (to the extent he was actually in the MCU as a cameo) is sleeping on the floor next to you in the factory? You can get away with an awful lot when you're that charismatic (yes of course he doesn't smooth talk and mostly communicate in hesitation technical snippets and weird tweets, a smooth talking clinton/jobs type wouldn't get the same type of bubble he does). I don't know how long that can be maintained, but he's been at it for decades and there are rockets landing on barges and sleek, fast cars charging in people's garages.
pkaye 6y ago
There is not much at the federal level and each state does its own thing. California does it better than most. There is a state disability insurance payed through payroll deductions that give up to 52 weeks of coverage and "provides short-term benefits to eligible workers who have a full or partial loss of wages due to a non-work-related illness, injury, or pregnancy." If you qualify it is 52 weeks of coverage. I believe you would qualify if you actually have COVID19 and have to isolate but I don't they will cover you if you are just scared of getting sick. Also most people with good paying jobs will additionally have private short term and long term disability coverage through their employer. I know someone who had unbearable back pain who had to quit his job and the private long term insurance will cover him for 20 years till he reaches retirement. And if structured right, there are no taxes on this income. Lower paying job may not provide the private disability benefits so many rely on the social security long term disability benefit but that is not as good as the private one and they are pretty strict in evaluating.

Ididntdothis 6y ago

In the US you often get 10-20 sick days per year, not more. Edit: This is what I have experienced and I meant this as a ridiculously low number. I had no idea that people would get even less.

TylerE 6y ago
You mean 1-2? The vast majority in the US don’t get 10 days of vacation, never mind sick/personal days.
jeffbee 6y ago
The majority of hourly wage workers in the US do not get any paid sick days at all.
- vinay427 6y ago
  That's not true in the states I've lived in and a few others I spot checked. I couldn't find a list with every state yet.
  - TylerE 6y ago
    Only required by law in 12 states + DC
    - vinay427 6y ago
      For the purposes of my curiosity, do you have a list? I'm wondering if those states actually include a majority of Americans.
      - TylerE 6y ago
        Arizona, California, Connecticut, DC, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington
        testbot123 6y ago
        Maine doesn't go into effect until 2021. Rough population count [1] of those states divided by population of 50 states + DC is 0.3032003614019388. Edit: most of those are also capped at 40 hours a year, which amount to one week maximum sick leave. [2] [1] Per https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_pop... [2] https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/paid-sick-leave.aspx https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/paid-sick..., via https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/12/as-coronavirus-spreads-which-u-s-workers-have-paid-sick-leave-and-which-dont/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/12/as-coronavi...
- benglish11 6y ago
  In California (where this Tesla factory is located) sick leave is required by law for all employees.
  - TylerE 6y ago
    Only 5 days though, not weeks.
ardy42 6y ago
> In the US you often get 10-20 sick days per year, not more. If you get that many in the US, you're probably actually getting "PTO," which combines sick days and paid vacation to make the vacation benefit seem better than it actually is. For instance, I knew someone who worked for a company literally called Grimco, who only got 10 days PTO per year.

vikramkr 6y ago

Paid time off/sick leave is already rare enough in the US, I don't think tesla has any incentive to really go above and beyond there. They don't need to attract talent using things like compensation and benefits or showing basic human decency in caring about their health during a pandemic. The cult of personality is really strong around Elon (and that's not a diss in any way, he's so powerfully charismatic and driven that he's willed a rocket company and an electric car company into existence). He's got a natural ability to get some of the best technical talent and financiers to believe in him and his vision and spend ridiculously long hours on their mission of saving the world while they could have far more comfortable jobs elsewhere. Why would you complain about long hours and unsafe conditions when you're boss who is basically a real life iron man (to the extent he was actually in the MCU as a cameo) is sleeping on the floor next to you in the factory? You can get away with an awful lot when you're that charismatic (yes of course he doesn't smooth talk and mostly communicate in hesitation technical snippets and weird tweets, a smooth talking clinton/jobs type wouldn't get the same type of bubble he does). I don't know how long that can be maintained, but he's been at it for decades and there are rockets landing on barges and sleek, fast cars charging in people's garages.

pkaye 6y ago

There is not much at the federal level and each state does its own thing. California does it better than most. There is a state disability insurance payed through payroll deductions that give up to 52 weeks of coverage and "provides short-term benefits to eligible workers who have a full or partial loss of wages due to a non-work-related illness, injury, or pregnancy." If you qualify it is 52 weeks of coverage. I believe you would qualify if you actually have COVID19 and have to isolate but I don't they will cover you if you are just scared of getting sick. Also most people with good paying jobs will additionally have private short term and long term disability coverage through their employer. I know someone who had unbearable back pain who had to quit his job and the private long term insurance will cover him for 20 years till he reaches retirement. And if structured right, there are no taxes on this income. Lower paying job may not provide the private disability benefits so many rely on the social security long term disability benefit but that is not as good as the private one and they are pretty strict in evaluating.