Lauterbach announces corona bonus payments - but these cause an uproar
Created: 2022-02-23Updated: 2022-02-23 05:50
Care bonus because of the corona pandemic: who can hope for how much money?
© Christian Ohde/Imago
The bonus payments for employees in the health sector are causing resentment.
For some it is not fast enough - others would also like to have a piece of the pie.
Berlin – On Tuesday, Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach commented on the bonus for nursing staff that employees in this sector should receive due to exceptional stress during the corona pandemic *.
According to the government politician, half of the distribution (a total of one billion euros) should benefit hospitals and the other half for employees in long-term care.
Lauterbach (SPD) explained that a corresponding draft had been developed that should be submitted to the Bundestag for approval.
"The bonus is now coming relatively quickly. But that's not all, the working conditions have to improve overall," warned the Social Democrat and successor to Jens Spahn (CDU).
Corona bonus for nursing staff: payments in the second half of 2022
The traffic light coalition had long announced that there should be a bonus for nurses due to the high stress in the pandemic *.
According to reports, the tax exemption for bonus payments is now to be raised to 3,000.
The financial support goes to the nurses because they were the focus of the Corona crisis, explained Lauterbach.
Interestingly, however, he is also considered one of the pioneers of the circumstances that brought hospital staff to the brink of capacity in many places during Corona: including his savings plans in the health sector with the plan to close clinics for cost reasons *.
Meanwhile, newspapers from the
Funke media group
are reporting on a key issues paper that promises a bonus of up to 550 euros for full-time employees in geriatric care.
The staggered bonus should therefore be paid out from the second half of 2022 by December 31 at the latest.
Bonus payments for nurses: a billion euros in the pot - doctors report claims
BR.de
also describes that there is dissatisfaction among employees in the care sector because the payment of the care bonus was recently postponed.
In addition, demands from the medical profession have been renewed in the past few days, which also claim additional payments.
The problem: the more people in the healthcare sector benefit from the distribution, the smaller the bonus for the individual.
This in turn harbors the danger that could become an additional burden for the general public: will the amount of one billion euros planned by the federal government actually be increased in the end?
The German Nursing Council
took a position on BR24
.
"The premium payment carries the risk of unfair distribution and can contribute to the division among the nursing staff," said Nursing Council President Christine Vogler in the interview.
The bonus is planned at least for nurses in the clinics.
This affects hospitals that treated more than ten Covid cases with artificial respiration last year.
According to reports, there are 837 clinics nationwide - and these would have cared for 95 percent of all corona patients.
It is now up to the clinic operators and employee representatives to decide which staff receive bonuses and how much.
(PF with dpa)
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