From January 2023, a new minimum hourly wage will be introduced for doctors and nurses working in clinics participating in the state’s universal health program. Doctors are paid 7 GEL per hour while nurses are paid 4.4 GEL per hour. The new regulation was announced on January 9 by Georgia’s Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Welfare.
The Ministry of Health spoke about the reform for the first time at the end of November 2022. The ministry then explained that the new rule would affect up to 9,000 doctors and more than 8,000 nurses, with the minimum monthly salary for doctors being GEL 1,260 for nurses who become GEL 792.
“The minimum salary for doctors and nurses will gradually increase in the coming years. By 2025, the minimum wage will be GEL 9 per hour for a doctor and GEL 5.6 for a nurse,” the Health Ministry noted at the time, adding that this would help “to increase and improve employee motivation and productivity [their] working conditions and the quality of medical services.”
In addition, the Labor Inspectorate will be responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Minimum Wage Ordinance from January. “The office will respond appropriately and severely to any unscrupulous actions by employers, and the rights of all workers will be protected in accordance with the law,” the health ministry said in a statement.
According to the Ministry of Health, the hourly wages of doctors in private clinics ranged from GEL 5.5 to GEL 6.2 when the investigation into the question of the minimum wage for doctors and nurses in 2022 began, and the level of the minimum wage for nurses and other medical staff taking into account the Physician salaries determined with different percentages.
Responses from CSOs
The Fair Labor Platform, made up of seven local CSOs, welcomed the department’s decision to introduce a new minimum hourly wage for doctors and nurses, but noted that “the measure falls short on several counts”.
The CSOs said last November that “the reform does not address other systemic labor law challenges faced by medical workers” and “although the number of workers covered is significant, many medical workers will remain unprotected by the new wage law.”
The CSOs mentioned, among other things, irregular working hours and overtime; excessive and unregulated patient-care relationships as the greatest challenges for medical staff. According to the Fair Labor Platform, “Medical sanitation workers are also exempt from the new minimum wage rule, although they typically work in appalling conditions,” adding that these challenges are “a key driver of the brain drain of skilled medical workers from the profession — and from Georgia.” even.”
“Government policies to ensure labor rights and decent pay in healthcare must be systemic – not fragmented – if they are to have any real impact,” the statement said.
The CSOs of the platform members urged the authorities:
- regularly revise the new minimum wage rates for doctors, nurses and other medical personnel, bringing them closer to the living wage, currently estimated at GEL 1,770 in Georgia;
- proactively inspect medical facilities to eliminate normalized wage theft and other labor rights violations in the industry;
- to develop and approve standards, based on international standards and best practices, that limit the nurse-patient relationship and to ensure the monitoring and implementation of this regulation in practice.
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