Month: March 2021

HOSPEEMNews2021March
News Hospeem

Marta Branca speaking at the EESC Hearing on the European Health Union

On Monday, 29th March, HOSPEEM Secretary General, Marta Branca delivered the following remarks to a European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) public hearing on ‘building a European Health Union’.

To fully profit from the European Health Union’s undertaking and take care of those who take care of us, we have to generate dialogue between all stakeholders’ levels. Therefore, we highly appreciate the representation of social partners and civil society organisations, professional representation, and representatives from the Committee of the Regions.

Additionally, as representatives of national employers’ organisations, we are looking forward to providing and exchanging our expertise and practices to harness the European project’s full potential.

Looking at the European Commission proposal, we are confident that the EHU will help in four areas, by:

  1. Creating shared governance, including coordination among governments and key stakeholders, such as social partners;
  2. Building a responsive culture to a crisis, where information is circulated timely and avoiding misinformation;
  3. Ensuring sufficient monetary resources in the system and flexibility to reallocate and inject extra funds to respond to the crisis. Investment in health is never a cost.
  4. Allocate appropriate level and distribution of human and physical resources, including personal protective equipment.

 In the future, HOSPEEM is interested in receiving more information on the conducting the so-called “stress test” and the auditing process, including which indicators would be used.

 While the health system’s stress test outcome might reveal significant shortages, the actors present with me at this panel have known them for decades. Hopefully, it will be a wake-up call for the Member States to acknowledge the sector as an investment rather than expenditure that has to be cut by reforms and austerity measures.

 As we all know by now, a country’s economy is only as healthy as its population contributing to it. Suppose that Member States start to invest in all building blocks of the health system, a direct effect will be a healthier population resulting in an increased and meaningful contribution to the economy.

 Let me come back to the stress tests. We are convinced that to maximise the full potential of a stress test in the health sector, it needs to be designed and implemented in cooperation with independent key players from the health systems. I should not compromise the autonomy of the Member States and national social partners regarding Art. 154 and 168 (7) of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union.

 To audit the stress test as laid out by the European Commission, we are looking forward to receiving more information concerning their transparency and planning to involve healthcare stakeholders and social partners.

 Turning now to the report of rapporteur Vardakastanis: Please allow me to elaborate on three elements that we consider important to highlight in this discussion:

  1. Indeed, the European Health Union’s rollout needs to connect with the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan implementation. The Plan foresees the proposal of new tools to measure the barriers and gaps in healthcare access. Member States are encouraged to boost the digitalisation of the health systems and to tackle health inequality while also being encouraged to invest in the health and care workforce, improving their working conditions and access to training.
  2. We certainly need to shift our thinking about healthcare. While the points outlined by the rapporteur are very true, we would like to see the reference to service provision, digital transformation and occupational safety and health measures.
  3. Regarding the principle of subsidiarity in healthcare services, which according to the rapporteur should be revised and reformed, HOSPEEM would like to reiterate that the health system’s management, including the health workforce, needs to remain a Member State competence. Diversity exists in the organisation of national health systems that are largely linked to historical developments and cultures. For these reasons, we encourage the Members States to work together with the social partners and the European institutions, particularly the European Commission, to exchange practices and work together in solidarity. 

Link to the full speech

Link to EESC website

Activities Hospeem

NHS Employers and HOSPEEM to speak on Ethical international recruitment of skilled workers in the healthcare sector 

On 21 April 2021, HOSPEEM’s UK member, together with the UK Department of Health and Social Care, the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, will speak on Ethical international recruitment of skilled workers in the healthcare sector online seminar series hosted by the German institute EBB Bildung.

Like many other countries worldwide, Germany is affected by a shortage of skilled labour, especially in the healthcare sector. As a result, healthcare facilities, employers, and agencies aim to close the skills gap by recruiting international skilled workers, mostly from lower-income countries. Simultaneously, the outflow of skilled workers impacts the economies of these countries of origin with already fragile health systems. Regardless of the disparities that arisen, health worker migration has increased over the past decades. How could these inequalities be addressed, knowing that migrants belong to the most vulnerable groups on the job market, especially in the healthcare sector? Which instruments are needed to guarantee sustainable and ethical recruitment practices from abroad and equal rights and ethical treatment of skilled workers in their new workplace?

To address these challenges, the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel in 2010.

How a Global Code finds implementation on the European, national, local level and then workplace level will focus on the IQ online-seminar. Altogether, the IQ online-seminar will allow attendees to understand how several international ethical recruitment codes are implemented on different policy levels. Finally, as a practical example, King’s College Hospital London will present their international recruitment practices.

Speakers: 
The webinar concept note is available in English – EN and German – DE

Please register via mail by 16 April 2021 at hospeem@hospeem.eu.

News Hospeem

Zorgnet-Icuro becomes HOSPEEM full-fledged Member

In March 2021, HOSPEEM welcomed Zorgnet-Icuro as full-fledged member. Zorgnet-Icuro has been HOSPEEM observer Member since 2020. Sylvie Slangen, Advisor for HR and Social Dialogue at Zorgnet-Icuro, also joined the HOSPEEM Steering Committee.

Zorgnet-Icuro is the employers’ association in Belgium representing the Flemish network of care organisations. The organisation aims to defend shared interests and represent them at Flemish, national and international level. The network also promotes knowledge and expertise sharing. More than 775 recognized care organizations are members such as general and acute hospitals, university hospitals, mental health services and facilities for elderly care, in particular residential care centres.

“Zorgnet-Icuro became an observer member of HOSPEEM a year ago. This collaboration was all the more rewarding because Europe is becoming increasingly important for our role as employers in the Belgian healthcare sector. We are confident that in HOSPEEM we have found the right partner to represent our interests as employers of healthcare in Europe. We are therefore pleased to continue our cooperation as a full-fledged member from now on.”

Margot Cloet, Zorgnet-Icuro, Belgium

News Hospeem

Marta Branca elected Secretary General of HOSPEEM

Brussels, 04.03.2021

Marta Branca was elected Secretary General of HOSPEEM for a mandate period ending in December 2021.

Ms Branca has been involved in HOSPEEM’s activities since 2008 as a member of the Board and General Assembly on behalf of ARAN, Agenzia per la Rappresentanza Negoziale delle Pubbliche Amministrazioni, leading the HOSPEEM Italian Membership in which FIASO and INMI Spallanzani are also represented. She has been HOSPEEM Vice-Secretary since 2018.

At European level she is mainly responsible for leading the negotiations with the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) in the framework of the European Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for the Hospital Sector and for representing HOSPEEM at high level meetings and towards the European institutions and other relevant stakeholders.

At national level Ms Marta Branca is the Director General of ASL Roma 3 (Local health unit n°3 of Rome) and she is representing ARAN.

She has a long experience in the field of social dialogue and collective bargaining in the healthcare sector. She previously worked as Director General at the Italian National Institute for Infectious Diseases (INMI Spallanzani) and held several managerial positions in local and national health institutions.

“It is a pleasure and an honour to be elected Secretary General of HOSPEEM. In my quality as ARAN representative, founder Member of HOSPEEM, I strongly believe in the key role of social dialogue in the health sector at national and EU level. In this period of global emergency due to the pandemic, it is fundamental for health employers to bring their voice up, also in view of the creation of an EU Health Union”.

Marta Branca, ARAN, Italy

Download the HOSPEEM Press Release (Pdf)

FIASO also published a Press Release on this topic (IT)

News, Projects Hospeem

CALL FOR TENDER – Subcontracting external expertise

Open call for tender for research on the role of social partners in preventing third-party violence and harassment at work

Date of publication on the project partners’ website: 02 March 2021
Deadline for submissions: closed

Download the Call for Tender

TENDER SPECIFICATIONS FOR SUBCONTRACTING EXTERNAL EXPERTISE

1. Background

The research being contracted is part of a project entitled The role of social partners in preventing third-party violence and harassment at work, which has received financial support from the European Commission under budget line 04.03.01.08 and which runs until 28 February 2023.

The project is coordinated by the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and involves HOSPEEM, CEMR, CESI as co-applicants and ETF, ETNO, ETUCE, EUPAE, UITP as associated organisations. The project aims to assess the effectiveness at the national level of the EU Multi-sectoral social partners’ guidelines to tackle and prevent third-party violence and harassment related to work (2010), hereafter the Guidelines.

It will identify areas for improvements and explore possibilities for reviewing the Guidelines’ content and nature considering recent legislative developments and the ILO Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment (2019). It will also aim to be an awareness-raising tool on a gender-sensitive approach to violence and harassment at the workplace.

It will include a mix of capacity-building among EU sectoral social partners and evidence-based policy recommendations addressed to the project partners, their members, and public authorities. It will consist of two European conferences with sectoral break-out discussions and seven webinars. The project focuses on public services, i.e., government, hospitals, education, public transport, supported by examples drawn from the private sector (telecoms), allowing to compare sectoral specificities and produce general policy recommendations. All are signatories to the Guidelines except public transport and telecoms, which have their sectoral agreements.

2. Purpose of the contract

Support is being sought from a researcher or a team of researchers to help facilitate the project run by the EU social partners EPSU, HOSPEEM, CEMR and CESI (project applicants). The contractor(s) will carry out comparative research on the prevalence and causes of third-party violence and harassment in the targeted sectors across the EU, legislative and social partner responses and assessment of the Guidelines’ effectiveness. The research will help social partners draw up their conclusions on how to improve the Guidelines’ implementation and, if necessary, based upon evidence, the guidelines’ content and nature. They will be in close contact with the project applicants via the Steering Group to ensure that the appropriate initial research is prepared and presented in due course. The final research report is useful for European organisations and their affiliates to improve preventive and response measures. The researchers will also assist with the organisation of the project webinars and conferences and with the coordination of the project to ensure practical outcomes.

3. Tasks to be performed by the contractor

The role and responsibilities of the researcher(s) and the preferred methodology for executing the tasks will be described in the following sections:

3.1 Research outline

The research will provide an overview of the current situation and draw up recommendations in close consultation with the project partners. It will examine:

  • Effectiveness and usefulness of the Guidelines in the abovementioned sectors and comparing with the situation in the two sectors which apply other sectoral instruments;
  • Relevant legislative, collective agreements and other instruments such as the ILO Convention 190;
  • The relationship between external and internal violence and harassment and whether both should be tackled separately;
  • Risk factors, e.g., human and material resources, dealing with vulnerable citizens, handling cash, quality and availability of services, discrimination (real or perceived), type of employment contracts, social cohesion at the workplace, working alone, digitalisation, sparse social dialogue, outsourcing, broader socio-economic factors;
  • Protection of and compensation for victims of violence and harassment and sanctions of perpetrators;
  • Preventive instruments, such as legislation, collective bargaining, data collection, risk assessments, reporting and follow-up, training of workers and management, health and safety and labour-related bodies.

3.2 Description of tasks

  • Participating in the project partners’ Steering Group meetings, the seven webinars and two conferences;
  • Assisting in the organisation of the webinars and conferences. This may include the moderation of various sessions during the events.
  • Liaising with the project partners in exploring and finding direct or indirect potential contacts from relevant employers’ organisations and trade unions in targeted countries and sectors to conduct comparative research;
  • Contacting representatives from national social partner organisations in the targeted sector and providing information on the project in cooperation with the respective project partners;
  • Drafting the survey addressed to national social partner organisations in the sector in the targeted countries after liaising with the project partners;
  • Identifying good practices from national social partners after liaising with the project partners;
  • Conducting targeted interviews/ testimonials with key opinion leaders of targeted sectors after liaising with the project partners;
  • Collecting and organising responses to the survey;
  • Drafting the content of the research report based on three main outcomes: 1.) responses collected via the survey, 2) information provided by participants and speakers during the webinars and conferences and 3) desk research;
  • Presenting the draft research report at the first conference;
  • Finalising the research report in coordination with project partners;
  • Presenting the final research report at the second conference.

3.3 Guidance and indications on tasks execution and methodology

The project will consist of comparative research on the prevalence and causes of third-party violence and harassment at work in the targeted sectors across the EU, legislative and social

partner responses and assessment of the Guidelines’ effectiveness. The researchers are expected to conduct quantitative research, such as a working-population based survey taking into account national specificities of the various sectors, as well as already

existing European databases, such as the European Working Conditions Survey and the European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks.

The project partners foresee that the targeted countries be spread across the European Union, with two countries per region (North, East, South, Central and West). The targeted sectors correspond with those covered by the project partners, such as education (i.e. secondary schools), hospitals, prisons, employment services, urban public transport and administrative functions in local regional governments, after consultation with the researchers. Further to the quantitative analysis, the researcher should conduct at least four semi-structured or open-ended interviews with key opinion leaders in their respective sectors, which will provide direct examples of affected sectors. The interviews will be for communication purposes of the project applicants.

4. Expertise required

  • At least three years of experience in the fields of occupational safety and health, including psychosocial risks, third-party violence and harassment at work, and gender equality, preferably with an understanding of national and European social dialogue;
  • Familiar with the Multi-sectoral Guidelines, ILO Convention 190 and other relevant  European and international instruments regarding prevention of violence and harassment at work;
  • The researchers should be or be able to become familiar with the project partners’ publications on third-party violence.

5. Timetable

The project duration is from 1 March 2021 until 28 February 2023. The draft research report must be made available no less than two weeks before the first conference. The researchers will present and test initial findings at the mid-term technical conference on 19 November 2021 (date TBC). They will use them to finetune research angles and carry out targeted interviews of project delegates. The researcher should finalise the draft of the research four weeks before the political conference on 25 November 2022 and finalise the report by 1 December 2022, taking into account the proceedings of the webinars and both conferences.

6. Price

The total budget for the research is 35 000,00 EUR (all taxes and charges included). The contractor’s travel and accommodation expenses to attend any of the project events and meet with the project partners will be covered separately from the project’s overall travel and accommodation budget.

7. Payments

EPSU will sign a contract with the subcontracted researcher(s). Payments will be made in three instalments depending on the contractors carrying out the relevant stages of the work in accordance with the contract. The first payment of 20% of the contract value on the contract’s signature, a further payment of 40% of the contract value on completion of initial findings of the research two weeks before the mid-term technical conference on 19 November 2021, and a final payment of 40% upon completion of the research report by 1 December 2022.

8. Selection criteria:

  • Verifiable expertise, experience and skills, as required and described above;
  • Proven knowledge/ evidence/track record of research (supported by publications, academic articles etc.) on sectoral social dialogue, in particular focusing on the targeted sectors;
  • Respect of the budgetary constraints and timeline.

9. Award criteria

The contract will be awarded to the tenderer whose offer represents the best value for money – taking into account the selection criteria. The principles of transparency and equal treatment to avoid any conflict of interest will be respected. It should be noted that the contract will not be awarded to a tenderer who receives less than 70% on the selection criteria.

10. Content and presentation of the bids

Tenders must be written in English. They must be signed by the tenderer or duly authorised representative and legible so that there can be no doubt about words and figures. Tenders must be clear and concise, demonstrating that they are able to meet the requirements of the specifications. All tenders must include at least two sections:

i) Technical proposal

The technical proposal must provide all the information needed for awarding the contract, including:

  • Description of relevant professional experience with an emphasis on the specific fields covered by invitation to tender;
  • All information and documents necessary to enable the project partners to appraise the bid based on the selection and award criteria set out above;
  • A detailed CV of the expert(s) involved in the project activities;
  • Specific information concerning the proposed methodology for delivering the tasks listed in part 2.

ii) Financial proposal

Prices of the financial proposal must be quoted in euros, including if the sub-contractor is based in a country that is not in the euro-area. As far as the tenderers of those countries are concerned, they cannot change the bid’s amount because of the exchange rate evolution. The tenderers choose the exchange rate and assume all risks or opportunities relating to the rate fluctuation. Prices shall be fixed and not subject to revision during the performance of the contract.

11. Selection of the bids

Offers must be received within 30 days of the date of publication of this call for tender by EPSU, i.e., by 2 April 2021. This call for tender is closed.

EPSU also has set up a page for this call for tender.

This project has received financial support from the European Union

*** Back to the main project webpage ***

Activities, Projects Hospeem

Multi-sectoral project on “the role of social partners in preventing third-party violence and harassment at work

HOSPEEM, EPSU, CEMR, CESI as co-applicants and ETF, ETNO, ETUCE, EUPAE, UITP as associated organisations have been provided with financial support from the European Commission for a joint project in the field of social dialogue: “The role of social partners in preventing third-party violence and harassment at work” in the years 2021 and 2023 (VS/2021/0046).

Aims and objectives

The project aims to assess the effectiveness at the national level of the EU Multi-sectoral social partners’ guidelines to tackle and prevent third-party violence and harassment related to work (2010), hereafter the Guidelines. It will identify areas for improvements and explore possibilities for reviewing the Guidelines’ content and nature considering recent legislative developments and the ILO Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment (2019). It will also aim to be an awareness-raising tool on a gender-sensitive approach to violence and harassment at the workplace.

It will include a mix of capacity-building among EU sectoral social partners and evidence-based policy recommendations addressed to the project partners, their members, and public authorities. It will consist of two European conferences with sectoral break-out discussions, seven webinars.

The project focuses on the public services sector, i.e., government, hospitals, education, public transport, supported by examples drawn from the private sector, allowing to compare sectoral specificities and produce general policy recommendations.

Implementation of the action

The project will run for 24 months. This will allow the delivery of a full project cycle, including preparatory activities, implementing the work plan, and disseminating results. The project foresees the organisation of  webinars and conferences.

Webinar 1: 15 June 2021 on setting the scene of the project

Webinar 2: 24 September 2021 on gender-based violence and harassment

Webinar 3: 25 October 2021 on risk assessment, an EU health and safety obligation

Webinar 4: 16 December 2021 on digitalisation and third-party violence and harassment: challenges and risks

Webinar 5: 4 March 2022 on protection and compensation of victims of violence or harassment

Webinar 6: 13 June 2022 : Brainstorming on how to improve the 2010 social partner multisectoral guidelines on prevention of third-party violence and harassment

Final conference: 25 November 2022, Madrid

Documentation

Call for tender (Closed)

Project description

EPSU will also set up a page with the project-related information.

This project has received financial support from the European Union

Consultations, News Hospeem

HOSPEEM replies to the European Commission public consultation on the EU Strategic Framework for Occupational Safety and Health (2021 – 2027)

In the joint response to the public consultation, HOSPEEM and SGI Europe stressed that the Framework needs to grasp opportunities and anticipate challenges for working life in constant development, for the common good of employees, employers, citizens, and the operations, for long-term sustainable workplaces and society. It is to consider the role of digitalisation: While it could enhance productivity and create safer work processes’, its associated risks need to be assessed. Risks range from mental health due to adaptation to new working methods and increased work-related diseases due to a shift to sedentary work.

Download the HOSPEEM-SGI Response to the European Commission public consultation on the EU Strategic Framework for Occupational Safety and Health 2021 – 2027 (.Pdf)

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