Earn more, work shorter hours
The DIAKO Waldeck-Frankenberg gGmbH has for its subsidiaries WDS Altenhilfe + Elderly care gGmbH and Hospital St. Elisabeth gGmbH, both members of Diakonie Hessen, have negotiated new working conditions and higher salaries with the trade union ver.di. Not only new skilled workers and trainees benefit from the more attractive conditions, but also the existing workforce.
The shortage of skilled workers in elderly care has not only existed since the Corona pandemic. "Stress, weekend work, low salary... these are the three most frequently cited reasons that speak against choosing a career in elderly care or a permanent job in this sector," say the two managing directors of DIAKO Waldeck-Frankenberg gGmbH, Pastor Oswald Beuthert and Stefan Kiefer. The region's elderly care provider has recently come up with a decisive countermeasure: "Everywhere there are calls for geriatric nurses to be paid better and offered better working conditions - and that is exactly what we are now implementing. An innovative collective agreement now applies to existing and new employees. We needed a lot of patience for this: we negotiated with the union ver.di for almost two years. Ultimately, we were successful! Now we have something attractive for the employees and something operational and practical for us as employers," says Pastor Oswald Beuthert.
“Now in the top range with training allowance and starting salaries”
The shortage of skilled workers and labor, which is unfortunately becoming increasingly and permanently prevalent in the elderly care sector, can create a vicious circle: the thin staffing levels lead to high pressure to perform and thus in turn to absences due to illness, which sometimes have physical and sometimes mental causes. "This then puts the remaining staff under even more pressure," regrets Stefan Kiefer. That is why the new collective agreement not only reduces weekly working hours to 38,5, but employees are also entitled to a free, continuous weekend every other week. "This is by no means a given in elderly care," says Astrid Mertens, chairwoman of the employee representation of WDS Altenhilfe + Elderly care gGmbH, who very much welcomes the new collective agreement with its improved working conditions and higher salaries. "With our training allowance and our starting salaries, we are now in the top range in Hesse," reports Managing Director Stefan Kiefer. Not only new skilled workers, but also the majority of the existing workforce will benefit from this immediately, or in 2023 through an already agreed table increase. Astrid Mertens is therefore convinced: “The new collective agreement will help us to recruit skilled workers and trainees more easily – because it offers good arguments for choosing our company.”
Photo: Elmar Schulten (WLZ editorial team)