NextGen Day

MANILA, Philippines – UniTeam senatorial candidate Harry Roque proposed on Wednesday to fix the large pay gap between government and private hospital nurses, which is at the heart of the country’s fight against Covid-19.

The poor pay of nurses in private-run hospitals, according to Roque, who was the primary author of the Universal Health Care law, is “a disrespect to their life-saving heroism in this age of epidemic.”

“It would be ideal to mandate the salary rise of nurses in the private sector through legislation to ensure their dignity and better career opportunities in accordance with the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002,” he said.

The former presidential spokesman stated that the equal protection clause would be used to close the wage difference between private and government nurses.

“At this critical stage in our pandemic recovery efforts, this will hopefully halt the flight of nurses to other sectors like the contact center industry or foreign employment,” Roque added.

According to the Department of Labor and Employment, registered nurses working in hospitals earn an average monthly income of PHP9,757. An entry-level nurse, on the other hand, earns a starting pay of PHP8,000.

Meanwhile, according to a 2018 joint research by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the University of the Philippines Population Institute, full-time nursing professionals earn an average monthly income of PHP14,942.

According to the National Migration Survey (NMS), this income level places nurses barely above the 2018 per-capita poverty line for a family of five.

The Department of Budget and Management increased the starting wage of government nurses to PHP33,575 in 2020.

When he filed House Bill 02935 as a party-list representative in 2016, Roque recalled bringing attention to the rising migration of health professionals.

In light of the current pandemic, he said he would like to reintroduce the law, which would limit nurses’ continuous work hours to no more than 40 hours in a seven-day workweek.

Migrating nurses, according to Roque, criticize the poor pay and hard hours of labor as reasons for leaving the nation.

Health-care companies are barred from compelling nurses to work more than their regularly planned work hours under the original version of the bill, save in the event of a health-care disaster or emergency.

Before forcing an on-duty nurse to stay in an emergency, health care companies must make a good faith effort to have the overtime reimbursed willingly.

Calling per diems, agency nurses, assigning floats, or asking an extra day off from off-duty nurses are all examples of this. In addition to other punishments imposed by the court, violators will be fined PHP100,000.

According to the NMS, nurses account up 59 percent of all working health professionals in the United States. According to a national census from 2015, there are 488,800 health professionals.

Save/Share this story with QR CODE

---

Disclaimer

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute endorsement of any specific technologies or methodologies and financial advice or endorsement of any specific products or services.

📩 Need to get in touch?

📩 Feel free to Contact NextGenDay.com for comments, suggestions, reviews, or anything else.

---

We appreciate your reading. 😊Simple Ways To Say Thanks & Support Us:
1.) ❤️GIVE A TIP. Send a small donation thru Paypal😊❤️
Your DONATION will be used to fund and maintain NEXTGENDAY.com
Subscribers in the Philippines can make donations to mobile number 0917 906 3081, thru GCash.
3.) 🛒 BUY or SIGN UP to our AFFILIATE PARTNERS.
4.) 👍 Give this news article a THUMBS UP, and Leave a Comment (at Least Five Words).

---

AFFILIATE PARTNERS

World Class Nutritional Supplements - Buy Highest Quality Products, Purest Most Healthy Ingredients, Direct to your Door! Up to 90% OFF.
Join LiveGood Today - A company created to satisfy the world's most demanding leaders and entrepreneurs, with the best compensation plan today.

---