An adviser to Ilie Bolojan defends the prime minister's proposal targeting resident doctors: “The case is not unique at all”

“Ilie Bolojan has stepped on another anthill, this time full of resident doctors,” says Dragoș Damian, CEO of the Terapia drug manufacturer and honorary health advisor to Prime Minister Bolojan. He refers to the proposal advanced by the head of the executive, that the graduates of the state medical faculties be conditioned to practice for a period in the country.

Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan stepped on another “anthill”, this time full of resident doctors. A subject much, much more complicated than at first sight

From an “anthill” that Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan stepped on yesterday – he stepped on many, they are everywhere – a very complicated topic emerges. Debates have arisen – please read “hating, trolling, bitching, etc. exchanges of lines have arisen, without any data and arguments, full of personal emotions” – on the subject of retaining resident doctors for a number of years in the public health system, after they have been qualified and specialized with public money.

“Example widespread in the private environment”

But the debates go beyond the scope of the health system, they are much more complicated and refer to the entire labor market, be it public or private.

Here is another example, very widespread in the private environment. You are an entrepreneur, you have a factory, you are looking for qualified and specialized staff. And because you are a good Romanian and want to keep young college graduates in the country, you hire them (they are completely untrained), you start to develop them professionally, for three months, six months, twelve months, internal and external courses. You develop them professionally on your money and bring them to a very good level of qualification and specialization. After which, out of the blue, the employee resigns and you find out that he was stolen by an employer in the same economic sector, who can give him a higher salary 1) because he gets him trained and puts him on a higher grade or 2) because he receives state aid through which he can give a higher salary.

So the subject is very complicated, ubiquitous in public and private.

Clauses that can be canceled at any time

And the root cause is actually the qualified and specialized human resource crisis which, in the case of sectors such as health, manufacturing, construction and agriculture, has complications that ramify at the European level.

If you ask left and right what is to be done, you are told that you can conclude with the employee 1) a contract providing for the reimbursement of some expenses incurred by the employer; 2) a contract providing for his retention for a number of years equivalent to the duration of professional development or 3) a contract with “non-compete” clauses. Not a word.

According to Romanian legislation, any lawyer can quickly obtain the annulment of these types of contracts in court on the grounds of violation of Directive 2004/38/EC (regarding the right to free movement and residence on the territory of the member states, n. ed.). Or on other arguments.

Moreover, in private, there are employers who pay the expenses that must be reimbursed by the employee, so great is the despair due to the absence of qualified and specialized human resources.

“The case of resident doctors is by no means unique”

In the private sector there was a solution, of course not ideal, but which was already advanced to the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity (MMSS). Companies that do not prove that they invest in the qualification and specialization of human resources should be obliged by law to pay a contribution for qualification and specialization, following the model of the contribution to the disability fund. Although the proposal was received with interest by MMSS, guess who successfully opposed it? Exact!

We know that there are many, many employers who treat their employees like plantation slaves.

But what do we do with those many, many employers who respect their employees, who pay enormous sums for qualification and specialization, who want to secure a career and a future for them? So that the employees are then stolen by companies that did not give a single leu for qualification and specialization. What do we do with those employers?

The case of resident doctors is by no means unique. It is only the tip of the iceberg that reflects a generalized situation in many sectors. It depends on the lack of qualified and specialized human resources. The English call this “employee is king”.

In reality, there is no solution in Romanian legislation.