germany
It... depends.
Gesetz über die Zahlung des Arbeitsentgelts an Feiertagen und im Krankheitsfall (Entgeltfortzahlungsgesetz)
Act on the payment of wages on public holidays and in the event of illness (Continued Remuneration Act)
Says
§ 3 Anspruch auf Entgeltfortzahlung im Krankheitsfall
(1) Wird ein Arbeitnehmer durch Arbeitsunfähigkeit infolge Krankheit an seiner Arbeitsleistung verhindert, ohne daß ihn ein Verschulden trifft, so hat er Anspruch auf Entgeltfortzahlung im Krankheitsfall durch den Arbeitgeber für die Zeit der Arbeitsunfähigkeit bis zur Dauer von sechs Wochen.
§ 3 Entitlement to continued payment of remuneration in the event of illness
(1) If an employee is unable to work due to illness and is not at fault, he shall be entitled to continued payment of remuneration in the event of illness by the employer for the period of incapacity to work up to a period of six weeks.
However, that just means the employer owes them. Not paying what is owed is a civil matter. You can sue. If there is a significant sum, you can quit immediately and make the money you would have gotten in your notice period count as damages. This is very simplified: anyone thinking about this, please get a lawyer before you do anything.
Okay. That was the easy part. Now for the "when"s and "but"s:
The employer is allowed to not pay you for days where you don't have a doctor's sick note. Or keep your pay back until they have received it. But the article say sick notes are present; the company just doesn't believe them.
Point is, they are allowed to not believe the doctor. They are allowed to hire an independent doctor if they have reasonable doubts and have the employee visit that doctor. On company time and company money, but they can get a second opinon. However, even that doctor can only confirm or deny the original sick note. The doctor cannot share medical details at all.
Tesla is asking their employees to reveal their medical records. I am no lawyer, but looking and checking if the following applies seems a good first step:
Strafgesetzbuch (StGB)
§ 240 Nötigung
(1) Wer einen Menschen rechtswidrig mit Gewalt oder durch Drohung mit einem empfindlichen Übel zu einer Handlung, Duldung oder Unterlassung nötigt, wird mit Freiheitsstrafe bis zu drei Jahren oder mit Geldstrafe bestraft.
Criminal Code (StGB)
§ 240 Coercion
(1) Anyone who unlawfully coerces a person into an act, acquiescence or omission by force or threat of a serious evil shall be liable to a custodial sentence not exceeding three years or to a monetary penalty.
Now a court will probably not agree that docking a day of pay makes that threshold, but for someone who is really sick and missing work for weeks, that seems really reasonable. Because they don't just withold pay... they keep it hostage to make people reveal data, otherwise highly illegal for them to obtain.
Okay, but that is speculation.
What is not speculation are the fun details of German bureaucracy. Because they don't joke around, you do not mess with the government. So withholding pay to the employee is a civil matter between employee and employer. Okay. But... withholding mandatory social security payments is a crime.
Strafgesetzbuch (StGB)
§ 266a Vorenthalten und Veruntreuen von Arbeitsentgelt
(1) Wer als Arbeitgeber der Einzugsstelle Beiträge des Arbeitnehmers zur Sozialversicherung einschließlich der Arbeitsförderung, unabhängig davon, ob Arbeitsentgelt gezahlt wird, vorenthält, wird mit Freiheitsstrafe bis zu fünf Jahren oder mit Geldstrafe bestraft.
Criminal Code (StGB)
§ 266a Withholding and embezzlement of remuneration
(1) Any employer who withholds an employee's social security contributions, including employment promotion contributions, from the collecting agency, irrespective of whether remuneration is paid, shall be liable to a custodial sentence not exceeding five years or to a monetary penalty.
So in other words, if Tesla does not pay the employee, they still have to pay all the money to the government they would normally pay. If they actually just cut the monthly paycheck short by the days the employee was sick, including their social security contributions, they might even go to jail. That is a crime.
