Eurofound's COVID-19 EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the crisis, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for case DE-2020-33/1152 – measures in Germany
Country |
Germany
, applies regionally
|
Time period | Temporary, started on 11 August 2020 |
Type | Bipartite collective agreements |
Category |
Ensuring business continuity and support for essential services
– Remuneration and rewards for workers in essential services |
Author | Birgit Kraemer (Hans Boeckler Foundation) and Eurofound |
Case created | 17 September 2020 (updated 23 November 2020) |
Hospital workers face strong constraints because of the pandemic and an above average risk of infections. Staff shortages, long working hours and a high work load of care workers in hospitals is a long standing problem. Whereas public hospitals are covered by public sector agreements concluded with either the municipal employers or with the 16 federal states, private hospitals settle company agreements, if at all. During the COVID-19 pandemic, ver.di reached several single-employer agreements on a COVID-19 premium.
Ver.di has been campaigning for a pay rise and better working conditions for hospital workers for a long time. Local pacts for better care (Lokale Bündnisse Pflege) call for better conditions in hospitals. Several hospitals in public ownership reacted by agreeing on a COVID-19 premium. The amount of the premium varies.
The first agreement was reached with a public hospital group in Baden-Württemberg. The employer agreed on paying a premium of €500 for three months and also to include service companies into the provision. Similar agreements were settled with companies in Berlin, Saxony and in some other federal states.
No data. In total, the number of these single-employer ageements on premia for hospital care workers is very low.
This is why the public insurance funds together with the German Hospital Society (Deutsche Krankenhausgeselleschaft) - the interest organisation of hospitals - and the federal minister for health are now in debate over a scheme of publically funded premia scheme.
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Workers in essential services
|
Does not apply to businesses | Does not apply to citizens |
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
Social partners jointly
Company / Companies |
Employer
|
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
---|---|---|
Role | Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative | No involvement |
Form | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
There is a broad consenus between employers and the United Services Union ver.di in support of the measure.
This case is sector-specific
Economic area | Sector (NACE level 2) |
---|---|
Q - Human Health And Social Work Activities | Q86 Human health activities |
This case is occupation-specific
Occupation (ISCO level 2) |
---|
Health associate professionals |
Health professionals |
Citation
Eurofound (2020), Premium for hospital workers , case DE-2020-33/1152 (measures in Germany), COVID-19 EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, http://eurofound.link/covid19eupolicywatch
Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process. All information is preliminary and subject to change.