Healthcare workers are prohibited from quitting during the emergency period
Change language:
The Orbán government has extended the transitional period, so the legal relationship of the health service in Hungary will enter into force only on March 1, 2021. Nonetheless, doctors and nurses will be paid according to the new pay scale from January next year, but it is a restriction that a healthcare worker cannot hand in their resignation during the emergency.
Based on the writing of Index, these were revealed in the Hungarian Gazette published on Saturday night. As regards the ban on termination, 530/2020. section 2 of the Government Decree states that
“a healthcare worker and a healthcare professional employed by a healthcare provider covered by the Eszjtv. may not terminate their legal relationship with the healthcare provider – with the exception of extraordinary termination – during the period of the state of emergency situation announced in Government Decree 478/2020. (XI.3.) (henceforth: emergency situation).”
The government accepted several amendments proposed by the Hungarian Medical Chamber and the Hungarian Residents’ Association, as the original goal was to conclude new contracts for the health service legal relationship by 1 January 2021. This has been extended for two months, and according to a statement reviewed by MTI, the Ministry of Human resources is expecting a three-month extension – Portfolio draws attention to the contradiction that while the government decree puts the beginning of the health service legal relationship at 1 March 2021, the Ministry of Human Capacities writes that the health service legal relationship will be introduced on 1 April 2021.
In their first Facebook post, intended for comment, the Hungarian Residents’ Association notes that, contrary to the news so far, government decrees:
- do not state that in every case, the national director-general of a hospital exercises the employer’s rights,
- the deadline for licensing second jobs will not be extended until 2023,
- nor do they include the fact that those who currently have such a contract can still work as entrepreneurs until the end of 2022.