Posted on September 17, 2024 at 3:34 PM
The recently announced principles of the FNV for the collective labor agreement negotiations in 2025 have provoked mixed reactions. However, these plans offer interesting opportunities, especially for self-employed people in healthcare. In this article we discuss the proposed changes and the potential impact on self-employed people in the healthcare sector.
The proposals of the FNV
The FNV proposes a wage demand of 7%, combined with a four-day workweek. Healthcare is explicitly mentioned as a sector for which these plans would be a good idea. However, we wonder how the FNV comes to these conclusions, since our image of the healthcare sector is different.
Health insurers’ duty of care under threat
If enforcement of false self-employment continues as planned, this will also offer opportunities for self-employed persons. If healthcare organisations no longer use self-employed persons, this will have consequences for the feasibility of care. ‘No use of self-employed persons’ means fewer people to provide care. However, the demand for care will not decrease. We expect that this will jeopardise the duty of care of health insurers. If there is no capacity to provide purchased care, this can lead to waiting lists. Not to mention the consequences for emergency situations.
Staff shortages and salaries
While higher salaries are always welcome, we do not believe that the current staff shortages in healthcare are due to low wages. Common complaints relate to contracts that are too short and frequent unpaid overtime. These problems are not solved by a higher hourly rate.
A standard contract in the healthcare sector contains less than 32 hours per week. With the introduction of a shorter working week, the number of overtime hours will decrease, which will create a shortage of available working hours. Who will perform the work that can no longer be done due to this shorter working week?
The reality for self-employed people in healthcare
Our annual survey among self-employed professionals in healthcare shows that 30% of them work more than 32 hours per week and 33% between 24 and 32 hours per week. In addition, 55% of self-employed professionals declare more than 24 hours per week to their clients. If we add the hours for acquisition, administration, training and travel time, it is clear that self-employed professionals work considerably more hours than the 32 hours per week proposed by the FNV.
Increasing need for self-employed people
With the proposed plans, the need for self-employed workers will probably only increase. Employers in healthcare will have fewer opportunities to use permanent employees to fill rosters. It is therefore expected that healthcare organisations will increasingly employ flexible staff, including self-employed workers, to fill these shortages.
Concerns about control and fraud risk
We expect that health insurers and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport will not be happy with the expected consequences of enforcement. After all, insurers have much less control over uncontracted care and PGB care. In addition, they will be concerned about cost increases.
The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport is concerned about the risk of fraud; after all, it is greater in uncontracted and PGB care. But… for now, these parties are not sounding the alarm.
Conclusion
It is remarkable that an organization that is committed to permanent employees is making plans that do not solve the labor market problems in healthcare, but do increase the need for flexible labor. For self-employed people in healthcare, this offers an excellent opportunity to emphasize their indispensability. SoloPartners will follow these developments closely.
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SoloPartners is the trade association for independent healthcare professionals. We follow developments in healthcare and distribute current and understandable information to our members and non-members. The aim is to be the source of information for independent healthcare professionals. As a member of SoloPartners, we support independent healthcare professionals in complying with laws and regulations. If you want to know how, read on.
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