As early as August, 70 percent of the nursing staff in the Zurich City Hospital and in the health centers for old age will receive significantly higher wages.
During the corona pandemic, the nurses were extremely challenged, as here in the Triemlispital in December 2020.
During the worst times of the corona pandemic, the nurses were extremely challenged. Perhaps, however, it has now become clear to the general public how heavily burdened these employees are anyway. There was applause on the balconies, and the Zurich municipal council submitted several requests in which the improvement of the hospital professions was demanded.
More pay for most
Now the commitments are to be followed by deeds: Andreas Hauri (GLP), head of the city’s health and environmental department, presented a comprehensive “Program Strengthening Care” on Tuesday, which gives hospital employees more flexibility, relief from administrative work and more opportunities for further development in the profession should enable.
However, the central element of the program is the reclassification of the nursing professions in the municipal wage system. All nursing, support and other non-medical functions in hospitals and health centers have been analysed. It was found that 70 percent of the employees needed a higher classification. That is 2,800 of the approximately 4,000 people affected.
The reasons for this are the changes in the nursing professions. The level of education is higher, the individuals have more autonomy in their work and must also make their own decisions. The nurses should already benefit from the wage increase associated with the higher classification from August. However, individuals have not yet been informed as to whether they are among the lucky 70 percent or not.
Two specific examples were presented at the media conference: a health worker with a federal certificate of proficiency and 15 years of professional experience could move up from level 5 (out of a total of 18) to level 6. This would increase gross wages from CHF 76,571 to CHF 84,020 per year. A graduate specialist with training at a higher technical college could rise from level 7 to level 8, which would increase the salary from 92,079 to 101,458 francs.
Already implement care initiative
According to Andreas Hauri, the total costs for the higher wages will amount to CHF 27.6 million per year. The aim is to set an example for the improvement of the nursing and care professions, but also to profile the city of Zurich as an even more attractive employer in this area. Compared to the rest of the industry, the city already has good wages and working conditions. The further improvement is “clearly also a political step,” said Hauri.
In November 2021, the care initiative was accepted at the federal level with a yes share of 61 percent – an extremely good result for an initiative. Hauri made no secret of the fact that he felt the implementation of the initiative was going too slowly, which is why many of the demands from it were to be implemented at the city level. With the vote yes, the order to improve care came into the constitution; the federal councilors have four years to implement it at the legislative level.
In addition to the new classifications of the nursing professions in the wage system, there is a wide range of measures in the “Program Strengthening Nursing”, which are now to be implemented on an ongoing basis. These are not just ideas, but concrete plans, some of which are already being piloted, said Hauri.
Among other things, it is about better compatibility of work and family or flexitime for certain shifts. Re-entry should also be simplified. Of course, shift work in the hospital cannot be abolished, but more flexibility can still be created, said Hauri.
Ultimately, the betterment of the nursing professions should not only benefit the employees, but also alleviate the shortage of skilled workers. In Zurich City Hospital, for example, there are currently 62 advertised positions and 18 vacancies for apprenticeships.
Much goodwill for the measures
The SP welcomed the measures presented in a statement. But these must now be implemented quickly and consistently. In addition, the staff must be increased so that nurses can actually be relieved of administrative work. The Greens were also pleased with the measures they had called for in several initiatives.
The Green Liberals, Hauri’s party, are also behind the support program. It is certainly more targeted to improve remuneration in the long term than to reward nursing staff with short-term one-off bonuses, as was done in the last budget debates. However, the GLP also writes that there are still question marks on some program points. These points must now be further specified.
Staff associations are taking cantonal hospitals to court
sho. The staff of the cantonal hospitals should also receive better employment conditions. However, three associations, the VPOD Zurich, the Swiss professional association of nursing professionals and the United Staff Associations of the Canton of Zurich (VPV), have lodged a complaint with the cantonal administrative court. The reason is changes to the staff regulations of the four cantonal hospitals, namely the University Hospital Zurich (USZ), the Cantonal Hospital Winterthur (KSW), the Psychiatric University Clinic (PUK) and the Integrated Psychiatry Winterthur/Unterland (IPW).
In a message sent in the afternoon, the Health Directorate regrets that the rapid introduction of the new regulations is now being prevented. She justifies the adjustments primarily with the shortage of skilled workers in the healthcare sector. The amended regulations enabled the cantonal hospitals to make improvements, particularly for clinical staff. Deviations from the provisions of cantonal personnel law should allow additional funds to be made available for wage development. The health department continues to write that the staff associations could have commented on the revised regulations. Their approval by the government council should have taken place in the second quarter.
The associations had previously announced that they had taken a clear position against the procedure and the planned changes during the consultation. These were drawn up without the staff and contradict the current legislation. The clear yes to the federal nursing initiative at the end of November 2021 showed that the population is committed to better employment conditions in the healthcare sector. So it is not acceptable that the health department is negotiating with the hospital directors about new working conditions behind the back of the staff associations and wants to give them a free hand.