The health care reform now also brings home help and counselors for the disabled a salary injection – eliminating an injustice in a last-minute action.
About 12,000 domestic helpers throughout Austria take care of those who can no longer take care of themselves. Ironically, the government had forgotten about the backbone of the health care system in the first bill for health care reform. 520 million euros of the healthcare billion was set aside for a salary injection – that corresponds to approximately an extra monthly salary. However, only qualified nurses and nursing assistants would have benefited from the bonus payments, but not domestic help. In some facilities, half of the staff would have benefited from the grant, but the other half would not.
unfair gap
Surprisingly, an injustice that not only the Turkish governor of Lower Austria, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, but also the trade union and the Volkshilfe opposed. Mikl-Leitner criticized the planned salary increase in the Sunday edition of the “Krone”. “It is not fair to exclude a very significant proportion of nurses from this increase. This is a painful, unfair gap that absolutely needs to be closed.” The GPA and Vida unions, as well as the Austrian Social Economy Employers’ Association (SWÖ) also called for improvements to the health care reform, including domestic help and workers in care for the disabled to benefit from the planned payout subsidy.
The government now responded to the outcry, which also came from within its own ranks. As the “Krone” learned, the budget is now being increased by 50 million euros in a last-minute campaign. Because on Thursday the House of Representatives will decide on the care package. “We are fulfilling the wishes,” said ÖVP club president August Wöginger. It will be interesting to see if the unions will view the planned 50 million as reasonable.
The social partners negotiate in detail the salary increase for home help and counselors for the disabled. Groenenclub chairman Sigrid Maurer adds: “In total, the health care reform comprises 20 measures worth one billion euros. The biggest part of the reform is the pay rise.”
More improvements in the fall
Maurer announces that improvements in 24-hour care are also planned as a next step from the autumn. Some 60,000 people – mostly women – work here, often under precarious conditions. For a large proportion of nursing staff, after the fifth holiday week, an additional week is planned from their 43rd birthday, regardless of how long they have been with the company. In nursing homes there will generally be two hours of extra time instead of night shifts. Anyone who switches from another profession to a nurse will receive a nursing grant of at least EUR 1,400 per month during a training course financed by the AMS.
Ida Metzger
Source: Krone
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