Tag: salary

Salaries of employees of state-owned hospitals and specialized facilities will since the middle of January increase by four percent. The Association of state-owned hospitals and Slovak labor unions of health care and social services have agreed on the addendum to collective agreement of higher level from 2012. According to the data of Ministry of health, the other medical workers earned in teaching hospitals on average 783 euros, the average salary of nurses and delivery assistants was in these facilities 1,016 euros, physicians earned on average 2,500 euros. The increase in salaries will not take into account those workers whose salary was in years 2012 and 2013 increased on the basis of special laws. Addendum to collective agreement at the same time guarantees salaries to nurses at the level of the law about their salaries. Collective agreement including the addendum will be in force till 30th April 2014.

Hospital physicians’ salaries will absolutely rise. President Ivan Gasparovič signed an amendment to the Health Insurance Act. According to it, a doctor with specialization will from January 2013 earn 2.3 times the average wage, doctor without specialization about 1.25 times the average wage. Overall, increasing will cost more than 30 million per year. Hospital, however, do not have needed sources and most of them are in indebted. Ministry of Health rejects additional subsidization. The same amendment also introduces a new product in the reimbursement of health care abroad - patients no longer need approval from their insurance company before planned outpatient procedure.

By 11 July 2012 Constitutional Court suspended the effect of law, which has brought nurses and midwives higher wages since April last year. Almost a year after, in July 2013, the Plenum of the Constitutional Court decided that the law on minimum wage claims of nurses and midwives is not in accordance with the Constitution of the Slovak Republic. Prosecution, inter alia do not like that law positively discriminates nurses in comparison with other health care professionals. General Prosecutor's Office reacted by this step to the initiative of the Slovak Medical Chamber. Activity of doctors, who have challenged the law on raising salaries of nurses and midwives, can turn against them. President of the Association of Hospitals Marian Petko in response to this verdict acknowledged that the same stimulus after this precedent can be given to higher wages of doctors.

Inpatient doctors would see the third stage of increasing their salaries. Members of Parliament have approved an amendment to the Health Insurance Act. Change in legislation regulates the third stage of raising salaries of doctors, which is divided on the years 2014 and 2015. Increased salaries for doctors will require 19.3 million euros next year. A year later, this amount will rise to more than 36.6 million euros. A doctor with specialization should in the next year earn a total of at least 20.261 euros, and then from 2015 at least 22.715 euros per year. His colleague without specialization should earn next year salary not below 12.060 per year. 

Government approved the proposal that guarantees next stage of increasing the salaries of doctors. The proposal of amendment to the Act on Health Insurance, which modify the salaries, is based on an agreement between the Minister of Health and Medical Trade Unions association. Salaries of doctors will rise two times. Necessary funds for increasing of salaries must find hospitals by themselves, whereas for this purpose are not allocated any special resources. Small and medium-sized hospitals associated under the Association of Hospitals of Slovakia (AHS) do not have money for further increasing the salaries. AHS therefore wants to initiate negotiations with insurance companies to raise funds for small and medium-sized hospitals. Since January 2014, salaries should increase on 1.25-fold of the average national wage for the doctors without attestation and 2.1-fold for the doctors with attestation.

Nurses are increasingly demanding higher wages, but so far without success. While the doctors’ salaries have increased twice already and further increase will continue next year, nurses are rewarded as before. The current law, which guaranteed them a wage increasing, was suspended last year by the Constitutional Court. Nurses again plan to solve the wage issue directly with the Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská. Slovak Chamber of Nurses and Midwives wants to reach her this week. The Ministry of Health states that nurses’ salaries have been increased last year. In the words of her spokesman, the state hospitals fully respected the requirements of nurses.

The Doctors of Hospital in Žilina who rebelled against the new employment contracts and refuse to serve the emergency services have the highest average salary in all government hospitals. While certified doctor of University Hospital in Bratislava earns monthly € 2.259 gross, the doctors in Žilina receives on average € 2.841. Above standard wages are paid through the duplicated reimbursement of emergency services. If doctors have during one month three services, they receive a reward of 50 per cent of basic salary together with the price stated in internal decree. President of the Medical Trade Union in Žilina Peter Blasko, sees no problem in cancelling this allowance.

Medical Trade Union calls on Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská to submit the proposal, which contains the exact term of implementation of legislative guarantee of the third increasing of salaries of doctors. As was further stated in the statement provided by the President of the Union, Peter Visolajský, they are also asking the Minister for not connecting the experiment of implementation of unitary system with the legislative guarantee of third increasing of salaries. 

Wages of doctors working in hospitals will be next year increased as they are tied to the minimum wage. Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská announced the 5% increasing of basic wages. On average it should, according to her, be € 20 - € 30. Medical Trade Union requires and insists on fulfilling of the Memorandum signed between Government and trade unions, which meant the ending up of mass statements of doctors. Memorandum, among other things, talks also about the increasing of salaries of doctors in hospitals from January 2013. 

Wage requirements were after doctors and nurses introduced also by physiotherapists. They would like to see their salaries on the level of € 650 to € 1 407 gross. This all should depend on education, attained specialization and number of years of experiences, where each 5 years of experiences would mean 5% increasing of salary. Physiotherapists developed the proposal partly from their own initiative and partly at the request of the Ministry of Health.