How Eastern European nursing staff are systematically exploited
25.07.2012 13:33
Countless seniors in Germany are cared for and looked after in their own homes by Eastern European women. At first glance, the market appears to be working. Until you look more closely. An estimated 2.5 million seniors in Germany cannot manage without outside help. The fact is that caring for a relative at home always places a time-consuming, organizational, emotional, and financial strain on everyone involved. Overwhelm and overload are not uncommon. Relatives try to close the gap between actual needs and the actually available and affordable nursing and care staff by recruiting and employing migrant women, usually from Eastern Europe, to provide home care. This often takes the form of so-called secondment, in which a caregiver is hired, usually through a private agency, by the family concluding a service contract with a foreign company. The caregiver herself is then "seconded" by this company to the family. However, the Federal Association of European Care and Nursing Staff (BEBP eV) has been warning against this model for years.
Business in the gray area
In his article "Business in the Gray Zone," published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on June 29, 2012, journalist Johannes Pennekamp provided a compelling insight into this system: The posting of workers is usually part of a controversial business model in which a German and a Polish company profit, while social security contributions in Germany are evaded. This is a typical arrangement for this gray market, which has grown behind closed doors. While the involvement of recruitment agencies in the process doesn't automatically mean that laws are being broken, in most cases it indicates that someone is making a good profit. The article argues that the posting of workers is often "disguised temporary employment," declared as a posting to avoid wage costs and social security contributions in Germany. In reality, the employers are not the Polish posting companies, but the German clients. Therefore, social security contributions should be paid in Germany, not Poland.
The downsides of a seemingly functioning system
Several members of the Left Party (DIE LINKE) submitted a so-called "minor interpellation" to the Federal Government on December 14, 2011, entitled "Employee Rights of Foreign Care Workers in the Gray Care Market." In it, the politicians point out that many placement agencies based in Germany exploit the overall problem of the posting of workers. The MPs cite Seniocare24 as an example, which, according to them, exploits several legal loopholes. "Seniocare24 explicitly does not appear as a contractual partner in the service agreement with the care recipients, but merely as an intermediary. In reality, however, Seniocare24 acts as the contact person for both the client and the care worker. Thus, Seniocare24 evades any responsibility under labor and social security law." (cf. Minor Interpellation, Printed Matter 17/8193).
That caregivers from Eastern Europe are an indispensable component of the German care system is undisputed. After all, they contribute to the optimal care of those in need. This should also make them worthy of protection, a point which BEBP eV would like to emphasize once again.
About BEBP eV.
The Federal Association of European Care and Support Workers (BEBP) e.V. advocates for the rights, interests, and reputation of care and support workers employed in Germany. Its goals are to improve quality and transparency, create the necessary framework, and integrate care and support workers into existing care structures to ensure and enhance the responsible care of people in need of care and support in Germany.