Doctors in private practice must finally assume more social responsibility for their staff – medical associations should support this!
Vienna, Upper Austria, Carinthia (OTS) – Especially when it comes to collective bargaining, it is clear that many doctors (or their representatives in the chambers) have still not understood that they, as employers, also have social responsibility for their staff. Personnel is a decisive factor in every company, including ordinations. Of course, ordinations must be run economically. However, it cannot be the case that this is done at the expense of the ordination assistants, who are already at the lower level of the collectively agreed minimum wage. On the contrary: every entrepreneur also has a duty of care towards his employees and this also includes paying a corresponding salary. The poverty risk threshold in Austria is currently €1,415 gross in 2023. A collectively agreed minimum wage of €1,500 gross for 40 hours of work is no longer justified in times of enormous inflation and is simply a mockery of the entire professional group. And it is precisely the low-paid women in the healthcare sector who are feeling the effects of the current inflation the most.
With all these inequities currently prevailing, it is hard to understand why medical associations are constantly breaking off negotiations with the GPA trade union and delaying deals, thereby accepting massive losses in income for their employees. In our view, allowing wage adjustments to correlate with collective bargaining for doctors is also highly inadmissible, since errors in this regard in negotiations with the health insurance companies cannot be blamed on the employees (see also OTS_20230222_OTS0165 on the situation in the Lower Austrian Medical Association).
The eternal discussion that actual wage increases will not be approved because all doctors pay collectively anyway contradicts our survey of our interviewed colleagues. Because 20% of those questioned are paid exactly according to KV, which means that we are at the risk of poverty, especially in the states of Carinthia, Styria and Vorarlberg! Awkward!
“Modern entrepreneurship also means a good working atmosphere, well-trained employees who are always up to date with further training, good and fair payment and proper collective agreements that can be shown, which promote good staff in this way,” says BdA President Elisabeth Hammer-Zach. “Those who are already using this for themselves know very well: if the employee is doing well, the whole company is doing well! – And we also have the best examples of where it all works great!”
“Often it has not yet reached the negotiating medical association teams that KV contract negotiations are not there to gain political chamber change. Being in a good position with the registered chamber members when you negotiate extra bad conditions for ordination employees will hopefully soon be a thing of the past,” Hammer-Zach continues.
The BdA therefore calls on all medical associations to finally throw old behavior and ways of thinking overboard and makes it clear: in order to be able to cope with all the work in the healthcare sector, you need fairness, good teams and good team players, respect and mutual recognition.
Questions & contact:
Mag.a Elisabeth Hammer-Zach
President and representative for Upper Austria
BdA, Professional Association of Physician Assistants in Austria
Mobil: 0660/7020220
Mail: bda.praesidentin@arztassistenz.at
www.arztasssstenz.at
