The anonymous reader wrote to us by email:

As long as I can remember, Bolesławiec—apart from its world-famous ceramics—has also been known throughout Poland for a certain healthcare facility. When visiting the other end of the country, I was often asked about the Voivodeship Hospital, frequently with a humorous undertone.

These days, this place is in no way associated with humor for me. [...] the employees were made “happy” with the long-awaited contracts featuring the much-publicized pay rise that had been announced for some two years. Namely, we were finally supposed to receive PLN 2,600 in our contracts (the lowest gross wage).

Each of us, especially those who had worked longer and received the seniority allowance normally paid in the public sector, expected great gains after years of austerity. The previous pay policy allowed for various equalization payments [...]. And today, the long-awaited time finally came for the promises made to public-sector employees by those in power to be fulfilled.

After visiting the HR department and signing the annexes, our expressions and feelings were far from euphoric. The state hospital that the Voivodeship Hospital in Bolesławiec undoubtedly is did not fulfill the promises made and publicized by those in power and amplified by the media.

For my part, I wonder where the catch is and how much it is possible to hold an employee in contempt by not guaranteeing the lowest statutory salary in their contract. You will receive an adjustment; you will not lose out. Yet I have the strange feeling that someone here is trying to treat an employee like a potential patient detached from reality. If the legislature guarantees me PLN 2,600 and, on top of that, a 20 percent seniority allowance after twenty years of work, then according to the mathematics I was taught, the result cannot be anything other than PLN 3,120. From a state, public-sector employer, under a contract for PLN 2,375 (an amount that in no way [...] corresponds to the guaranteed minimum wage), adding the seniority allowance gives PLN 2,850 gross. I will ask provocatively: where are my PLN 270?

The illusion of a pay rise affected a huge group of hospital employees. The annexes specify various amounts, but they are far from the desired PLN 2,600. [...] Could it be that the law does not apply to the Voivodeship Hospital in Bolesławiec and, consequently, to the Marshal’s Office as well? Or are employees at other public-sector facilities in our region treated similarly? […]

We asked the director of the voivodeship psychiatric hospital, Janina Hulacka, for comment:

The regulations are unequivocal: an employee cannot receive less than PLN 2,600 gross. Information on what is included in the lowest salary and what is not can be found on the website of Statistics Poland. Jubilee awards, retirement severance payments and disability severance payments are, of course, among the exclusions. This is beyond our control. Please remember that we are governed by the Act on the Lowest Remuneration in Healthcare.

And she emphasizes:

The entire institution received additional money added to base salaries. I did not limit myself solely to equalization allowances for the lowest-paid employees. An agreement to that effect was, in any event, signed with the trade unions. If the union representatives believed that this was unlawful or harmful, they would never have signed the agreement.

The hospital director adds:

No one here deceived anyone. We are simply applying the law that governs us.

What do you think? We invite you to join the discussion.