The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights on the Social Care Workers' Wage System

In the recent months the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights has received several complaints concerning the wage system of social care workers.[1] The complaints took issue with the fact that, as far as their remuneration is concerned, social care workers are not treated in the same way as those working in the healthcare system, who are licenced by the Office of Health Authorisation and Administrative Procedures and are members of the Chamber of Hungarian Health Care Professionals, although they practically do the same work and they are psychologically more strained due to the condition of their patients. Notwithstanding, they haven't received any raise, benefits or allowances in recent years. The complainants also indicated that, as the social care workers' wages are so low, many of them leave their jobs (usually migrating to the healthcare system) and, as a result, the quality of care in social service institutions is getting worse by the day.

On the basis of the complaints lodged with the office and the indications of the professionals concerned, the Commissioner established that, just as in the case of the healthcare system, the income situation and the living conditions of the workers of the social care system are also continuously deteriorating. Working conditions in the social care system are getting impossible at the cost of those needing care, as, according to the data of the Central Statistical Office, the majority of social care workers live under the subsistence level.[2] They work in impossible material conditions and circumstances each and every day just to practice their profession of helping and assisting. As a result, many of them seek work in other sectors, the drop‑out rate, similarly to healthcare, is extremely high; the migration of qualified workers puts the entire sector in danger of crumbling away. Furthermore, many of them migrate towards the healthcare system, which may result in the further deterioration of the social care situation.

In connection with the wage and income situation of the workers of the social care system, the Commissioner, in accordance with the conclusions of an earlier report[3], pointed out that he may inquire into the absence of wage adjustment only from the standpoint of fundamental rights and constitutionality. His investigation could be based on the close connection between the operation of the social care system and the state's obligations to protect the lives and the health of its citizens. However, according to the Constitutional Court's opinion, reiterated in several of its decisions, the former Constitution could not be construed in a way that would suggest that different employers should pay the same wages to their respective employees doing the same work. The expression "same work" would cover work‑like activities defined by identical characteristics which should be equally compensated (paid) in every case, irrespective of the personal and material circumstances of the given legal relationship. This constitutional provision does not exclude the possibility of setting different compensation for activities defined by identical material characteristics, provided that it does not lead to discrimination. The principle of "same work – same wage", despite a prior constitutional declaration, was not implemented in the ordinary sense of the expression, i.e., it was not an absolute requirement relative to the remuneration of employees of identical qualifications doing works of the same type. Consequently, nobody has the subjective right to a wage identical to that of a person of the same qualification doing the same work or to a raise narrowing the gap therebetween. The state, however, has the obligation to respect the principle of equal treatment and, while doing so, may not set arbitrary, demeaning conditions. Even if it may seem unjust to those concerned, selective wage adjustment, connected to certain positions or forms of care, does not infringe on the ban of discrimination in the light of the practice of the Constitutional Court. Therefore, it does not raise constitutional concerns that the increase in the wages or salaries of certain positions in the healthcare system does not extend to the wages or salaries of those working in the social care system (the financing of the two sectors is also different). It does not mean, however, that it would not be necessary to reflect the parallels with the healthcare system, e.g., nursing and caring activities, similar circumstances and tasks, psychological strain, in the wages and salaries of those working in the social care system.

In addition, the Commissioner pointed out that the tasks of the workers in the social care system are manifold, complex, psychologically straining; therefore, he stressed the necessity of the earliest possible wage adjustment, especially considering that the people they provide care for belong to the most vulnerable group of society.[4] That is the reason why the Commissioner requested the Minister for Human Resources to consider the extension of the wage adjustment carried out in the healthcare system to the social care sector, thus facilitating the efficient operation of the latter.