Nurses who come from abroad and care for elderly Germans in their homes are entitled to a minimum wage. This decision of the Federal Court of Labor Law will change the lives of hundreds of thousands: according to experts and unions, foreign nurses who work for people in need of care in German households are between 300,000 and 600,000. as much of the staff is illegally employed and working conditions are often critical.
Countless hours of overtime
The decision of the Federal Court of Labor Law is in a case filed by a Bulgarian woman who claims that she had to serve a 96-year-old woman in her Berlin apartment 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Her contract stated that she would work 30 hours a week. At the same time, the contract between the intermediary agency and the elderly lady in need of care regulated “24 hours of service”.
The amount of the supplement which the applicant was to receive from the Bulgarian brokerage firm she had hired was to be reconsidered by the Berlin-Brandenburg Labor Court, the federal judges ruled. They returned the case back to the district labor court, which had already ruled in favor of the Bulgarian nurse.
The demands of the unjustified nurse are for an additional payment of 42,636 euros gross. The intermediary company rejected the claims, claiming that even if the woman had worked outside the hours stipulated in her contract, this had happened without the knowledge of those who had hired her. The labor court in Berlin-Brandenburg had upheld the appeal for the additional payment and had ruled that the woman was entitled to EUR 38,377.
The Verdi trade union, which supports the applicant, is of the opinion that nurses in Germany are often victims of exploitation. The Federal Union of Social Workers and the German Institute for Human Rights have also sharply criticized the harsh working conditions for nurses. Women earn little, work around the clock, are not entitled to leave, and often do not have any personal space.
“A real tsunami”
However, with the entry into force of the new regulation, far fewer older Germans will be able to afford to hire nurses. “The decision will cause a real tsunami for all those who have to rely on the care of nurses from abroad,” said Eugen Bruch, chairman of the German Patient Protection Foundation. And Verena Bentele, chairwoman of the VdK social union, predicted that after this court decision, home care was threatened by Armageddon.
The material has been published HERE >>
–
