The government has offered health-care workers a stabilisation allowance, Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OLaNO) and Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky (an OLaNO nominee) said on Wednesday following a meeting of the central crisis management team. According to the premier, the effort to sign a memorandum with the Medical Trade Union Association has failed for now. Lengvarsky will propose that the government should introduce a state of emergency as of December 1, if doctors decide to carry out their threat and go through with mass resignations.
For doctors, the allowance should amount to €10,000, those with certification would also receive €1,000 for each year of practice, totalling a maximum of €30,000. For other health-care workers, the allowance should be €5,000. "In difficult times, we'll need to introduce a stabilisation allowance for all health-care workers in hospitals who will continue to provide health care on December 1 and later," said Finance Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO), adding that the offer to sign an addendum to the employment contract is valid until the end of November.
Matovic stated that the contribution should be, on the one hand, an expression of gratitude for managing a difficult period during the novel coronavirus pandemic and, on the other hand, an expression that the government is serious about the health-care sector. He added that due to the situation, the government's offer to increase the coefficients for doctors' salaries is invalid, and those who remain in hospitals are offered a stabilisation allowance.
Source: TASR
