2023-05-03 19:30:21
François Braun bets on a reintegration in “good conditions”, knowing that this prospect does not delight many doctors. The Minister of Health will publish, in mid-May, the decree ending the obligation to vaccinate caregivers against Covid-19, as recommended by the High Authority for Health. In the process, these “suspended” can be reinstated in their functions. The practical arrangements are detailed in a ministerial instruction dated May 2, revealed by AFP and which Le Parisien also obtained.
The suspended caregivers and other hospital workers, whose number is estimated at several thousand, will be considered to be reinstated “the day after” the publication of the decree. Immediately, and “if possible within two weeks”, the heads of establishment must contact each of the professionals concerned “to notify them of the end of the suspension and if possible indicate the post of assignment and the date of resumption of the work “.
With fragile patients?
A “reassignment to an equivalent job” within the same establishment will be the general principle. These carers have not been performing their duties for, sometimes, more than a year and a half – the vaccination obligation came into force on October 15, 2021. “In principle, the suspended agent has the right to resume his duties on the position he occupied or on an equivalent job “if it does not lead to large differences in activity and income, is in the same area, and” does not present any discriminatory character “, describes the official document.
Like other doctors, Rémi Salomon, president of the medical commission for the establishment of Public Assistance – Hôpitaux de Paris, said to Le Parisien “in favor of these caregivers not being in services where there are at-risk patients. But at first glance, it would seem impossible for a hospital director to forbid in principle to a staff who worked in a service welcoming the most fragile patients to return there.
The only possibility: “in the event that the prospect of reassignment of a suspended staff member gives rise to disturbances within the service” and that these are “proven”, a change of assignment “in the interest of the service” may be considered for “an equivalent position”. One can imagine the case, for example, where all the caregivers who have remained in post are strongly opposed to the return of a former colleague. In any case, “no change of establishment can be imposed”.
Contractual termination or even radiation
In the event of a dispute, mediation can be organized in order to find another condition that suits all parties. If the situation remains blocked and the carer to be reinstated refuses the position offered, a conventional termination can be decided by mutual agreement. As a last resort, staff may be subject to expulsion “for abandonment of post”, after formal notice.
The ministerial instruction recalls that “the end of the suspension entails the obligation to remunerate the agents”. On the other hand, “the periods not worked with regard to the suspension for non-compliance with the vaccination obligation cannot give rise to any remuneration”.
No one knows how many caregivers and agents will take this opportunity to return to work from mid-May. A number of them have changed jobs in the meantime, and do not necessarily intend to backtrack. One thing is certain: these “suspended” represent only a very small minority of all hospital staff.
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