The Health Committee in the parliament will hold an extraordinary session to discuss proposals for introducing minimum requirements when determining the amount of salaries in medical institutions, reports the Bulgarian National Radio.
In early June, the three ruling parties proposed legislative changes in this direction, which were rejected by the initiative committee organizing the protests under the slogan "Future in Bulgaria".
Today's session was scheduled shortly after the young doctors from the "Future in Bulgaria" protest distributed an invitation to a round table on the topic of labor remuneration, planned for July 2, Wednesday. They have been invited to the session and will participate with their representatives. Last Thursday, on the air of Horizont, the protesters presented their proposals for legislative changes that would tie the minimum wages of residents to the minimum wage and increase the rate for night work. Adequate payment for overtime is also necessary, explained Kalina Bozhilova, a medical intern:
"According to the Labor Code, it is legal to have a maximum of 150 hours of overtime per year. As an example, one of our organizers of the protest worked 500 hours in a year. Keep in mind that anything above that is not paid to him, as there are no mechanisms to regulate it".
The ruling parties' draft provides for the minimum wages of medical staff in hospitals financed by the Health Fund or the state budget to be determined through the sectoral collective labor agreement. Workers will receive an additional 6 leva per hour for night work and 3 percent on their basic salary for increased qualifications. Fines of up to 30 thousand leva are also envisaged for establishments that do not meet the minimum wage requirements.