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Severance payments for healthcare workers to begin in August
Belgrade,
8 July 2005
Serbian Assistant Minister of Health Vasilije Antic said today that severance payments for healthcare workers who have agreed to quit their jobs or have accepted early retirement, will begin in August.
In a statement to the Tanjug news agency, Antic said that according to the results of a Health Ministry’s survey, 8,500 out of 130,000 healthcare workers were willing to quit their jobs.
Applications are now being processed and not every one of them will be accepted, Antic said adding that if a healthcare worker is indispensable to their health centre they will have to remain in their positions until an adequate replacement is found.
According to him, a severance payment committee will meet with workers’ unions once more to specify payment terms, such as the amount of severance payments and whether it will paid in lump sums or instalments.
Antic said that it was offered to healthcare workers that the severance payment for each year of service should total a third of their average salary for the past three months increased by 20 percent.
He added that the Ministry of Health will ask the government to state their viewpoint on this offer by late July.
According to him, the reduction in the number of healthcare workers is the most painless way of opening new posts and increasing salaries in health services.
Speaking about the price of medications, he announced that the domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies’ request for a price increase will be considered next week.
Antic said the government will look at these requests in a meeting attended by representatives of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Services and Ministry of Health.
He recalled that Serbian pharmaceutical companies want to be allowed to increase the prices by 16.6 percent on average, meaning that the prices would be formed in accordance with average prices in Slovenia, Croatia and Italy.
Applications are now being processed and not every one of them will be accepted, Antic said adding that if a healthcare worker is indispensable to their health centre they will have to remain in their positions until an adequate replacement is found.
According to him, a severance payment committee will meet with workers’ unions once more to specify payment terms, such as the amount of severance payments and whether it will paid in lump sums or instalments.
Antic said that it was offered to healthcare workers that the severance payment for each year of service should total a third of their average salary for the past three months increased by 20 percent.
He added that the Ministry of Health will ask the government to state their viewpoint on this offer by late July.
According to him, the reduction in the number of healthcare workers is the most painless way of opening new posts and increasing salaries in health services.
Speaking about the price of medications, he announced that the domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies’ request for a price increase will be considered next week.
Antic said the government will look at these requests in a meeting attended by representatives of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Services and Ministry of Health.
He recalled that Serbian pharmaceutical companies want to be allowed to increase the prices by 16.6 percent on average, meaning that the prices would be formed in accordance with average prices in Slovenia, Croatia and Italy.
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