Opposition Unsatisfied – Fix: Nurse’s salary bonus is increased

To increase the salaries of nursing staff, the federal government is making 570 million euros available to the federal states for the years 2022 and 2023. In 2022, the federal states used this money for a one-off salary supplement for nursing staff of 2,000 ruro. For 2023, the bonus should now be 2460 euros per person – including employer contributions.

Administrative simplification
‘The accompanying amendment to the Special Allowances Wage Increase Act has been adopted by a majority in the National Council. This also anchors an administrative simplification of payment processing. In addition, it is clarified that benefits to temporary workers can also be settled and that part-time employees are included pro rata.

Rook defends height
Minister of Health and Social Affairs Johannes Rauch (Greens) pointed out that the federal states are largely responsible for care matters. Last year, it was agreed that the federal government would provide states with a special grant to increase nursing staff salaries. The money was always planned as a salary component and not as a one-time bonus. The implementation has shown that this is not possible for the year 2022, which is why a one-off payment was made in December.

Before 2023, however, the federal states had agreed to standardize payments and embed them as a salary component, Rauch reports. In the future, the intention is to permanently embed the bonus in the system through financial settlement. The health care reform is certainly not over, said the Federal Minister. But it’s a first step.

ÖVP: “Milestone”
Ernst Gödl (ÖVP) also said that the year saw one of the biggest healthcare reforms of the past 30 years. He listed some of the “milestones” so far, including the nurse salary bonus. Gödl emphasized that this concerns co-financing of an area for which the federal government is not actually responsible. Bedrana Ribo (Greens) stated that this procedure was a kind of pilot experiment. It was clear from the start that the law needed to be changed and that is now happening. She does not understand why the numerous measures taken in the framework of health care reform are constantly criticized, she said in the direction of the opposition.

SPÖ: “Regulations unfair”
This did not spare criticism. Josef Muchitsch (SPÖ) criticized the regulations drawn up by the government as incomplete, incomprehensible and unfair. For example, he complained that the bonus in 2022 was not paid gross for net and was not paid equally in all federal states. According to Muchitsch, everyone who works in the care sector from Lake Constance to Lake Neusiedl earns a uniform allowance. Even with the current amendment to the law, it is not possible to rectify this unequal treatment.

NEOS: ‘Relatively expensive beauty campaign’
Fiona Fiedler (NEOS) argues that according to those affected, the salary bonus ignored the reality of life in healthcare. Individual professional groups have been forgotten or deliberately omitted. Because the funding is only guaranteed for two years, Fiedler described the bonus as a “relatively expensive beauty campaign” that won’t benefit the health system in the long run.

FPÖ is also dissatisfied
He credits the health minister for at least trying to tackle a health care reform, Gerhard Kaniak (FPÖ) said. However, he should have involved the expertise of the other parties. Because measures such as the salary bonus for nursing staff have been implemented with errors that have not been resolved to this day. Kaniak criticized that the bonus was not paid out in the same amount in all states. In this regard, he has also tabled a motion for a resolution insisting that the bonus for 2022 be paid tax-free and tax-free and guaranteed in a uniform manner in all federal states for 2023 and subsequent years. However, the application remained in the minority.