Czech Republic

The OSZSP health union reports that it has secured a commitment from the government for a 10% pay increase for health and social care workers. However, in discussions with the health ministry the union had to intervene on the state budget to ensure that funding was available to hospitals to cover the pay increase. In contrast, the government is arguing that its changes to income tax rules will increase take-home pay for workers and so it is planning to freeze pay for other public service workers and is even using the change to argue for pay freezes in the private sector.

The OSZSP health workers' union and LOK doctors' union held a joint press conference on 19 August to call for a 15% pay increase for all health workers in 2021. Both unions say that they are pleased with the additional payments for staff dealing with COVID-19 but that the government had to recognise the increase demands on the health service and the need to attract new staff in order to address excessive overtime and overwork. The unions say they are ready to negotiate but made clear that the health minister's proposal for a 5% pay rise was unacceptable.

The OSZSP health union and doctors' union have called on the minister of health to ensure that bonus payments for working with COVID-19 patients are paid to all relevant staff across the health and social care sectors. The payments were agreed and confirmed by the minister of labour but the health minister has only contacted directly-managed teaching hospitals and a small number of other facilities to pay the allowance which ranges from 100 (3,70 EUR) to 500 (18,50 EUR) and up to 1500 CZK (EUR 55,30) an hour. The unions underline that all staff on the frontline should benefit whether

The OSZSP health and social care union has joined with the doctors' union in calling for a bonus for employees of hospitals, emergency medical services, social services facilities and public health protection authorities, who provide health and social services to patients and clients with COVID-19, or are at risk of COVID-19 infection. The three levels of monthly bonus would reflect the degree of risk faced by the worker and would start at CSK 20000 (EUR 730), rising to CSK 30000 (EUR 1100) and then CZK 40000 (EUR 1645). The initial response from the prime minister is to acknowledge that

Over 100 healthcare trade unionists from across the country came together last month to discuss the staffing crisis in the sector. Neither the prime minister nor minister of health were able to take part but health ministry officials did attend and were taken to task over the government's failure to address the issue and its claims that there were too many hospital beds and too few patients. The trade unionists underlined the challenges of poor working conditions and pay that were contributing to recruitment difficulties and the continuing problem of emigration of trained workers.

The government has confirmed the pay increase for public sector workers that was negotiated in September. There will be a flat rate CZK 1500 (EUR 59) increase per year, meaning on average a 7% increase. However, the government has also confirmed that it will abolish the pay table for lower paid staff. These include non-teaching staff in regional education, culture staff, secondary professions in social services and non-medical professions in hospitals. These will be transferred to another pay system meaning a additional increase of 3.5%. The increases take effect in January.

The OSZSP health and social care union met with ministry of health officials earlier this month to discuss staffing levels in the social care sector. The union has been pushing hard for the government to introduce safe and effective staffing levels. It underlines the need for this to be done on the basis of real assessment of needs and not on the basis of current staffing levels as many institutions are understaffed and staff overworked. The union also wants increased funding for providers which it sees as necessary to increase staff and tackle low pay in the sector where the average wage is

The OSZSP health and social service union met with employers and the government last month to discuss funding of social services. Employers in the non-profit sector agreed with the union about the importance of ensuring adequate and reliable funding for the sector. There were some concerns about the ability to pay the 2019 pay increase and employers said that the uncertainty of funding was causing problems for maintaining jobs and decent pay levels. The union called for 20 billion crowns for 2020 and a 10% pay increase. It also underlined the need for 1 billion crowns to fund investment in

In a recent tripartite meeting the OSZSP health union made the case for increased funding for health and social care and for initiatives to recruit more staff. The prime minister and health minister made claims about the need to focus more spending on investment in health rather than pay and argued that pay rates should only increase by 2-3% and suggested that pay was no longer an issue for many staff. The OSZSP said that a recent survey showed that 75% of health workers saw increased pay as a key factor in retaining workers in the sector. The union also argued that overall health funding was