Unaware of her rights, she takes a job in Berlin for 950 euros a month - as a carer who is available 24 hours a day. ARD meets its viewers with the Bulgarian Dobrina, who started working in Germany ten years ago for financial reasons. The salary in the Federal Republic is definitely higher than it would be in Bulgaria, but gradually Dobrina finds out that the agency that mediates her work takes much more than she herself. And he decides to seek his rights.
And other cases
Bulgarian Sofia (this is her name in the ARD show) also worked on a 24-hour schedule. With her, it is not about the monthly salary, but about the trauma she received as a result of the hard work performed in Germany, the spine surgery that was required, but she never received the right to sick leave.
These are just two of the cases of around 600,000 foreigners who work in Germany as caregivers on a 24-hour basis. Without them, the system for serving the elderly and the sick in the country will collapse, the German public law media points out, noting that the regulation in the field is not sufficient, and the agreed conditions often diverge from the real ones.
The lion's share is for the agency
Dobrina is from Nessebar, where she returned to live with her family – four people in two rooms. They cannot afford a bigger home, even though she has 32,500 euros from her former employer in Germany. Ten years ago, after taking out a loan to provide medication for her seriously ill husband, Dobrina came across an ad of a Bulgarian agency hiring 24-hour caregivers in Germany. She went to Berlin to take care of a woman who was bedridden. She received 950 euros a month – much less than the then minimum wage, but she didn't know that. The sick woman's son was well-intentioned and told Dobrina to contact her employers, to whom he paid 2,150 euros each. “Call them to increase your salary.“ That's how the woman realized that the agency was getting much more than her. And she decided to fight.
The German public law media notes that the exploited caregivers from abroad, who are available 24 hours a day, rarely agree to speak to the media – most prefer to remain anonymous. ARD, referring to their stories, informs that there are workplaces where food is not provided. In principle, an employment contract with health insurance should be concluded with the agencies, but this also does not always happen. And women don't want to talk about their problems in order not to be fired and blacklisted by agencies – that is, to never get a job again.
Why the Bulgarian woman can no longer work
Sofia shows to the camera the scars from the operation that was done to her. She can't lift heavy because she suffers from osteoporosis, but her latest case in Bavaria turned out to be much more intense than she expected. “The disabled woman wanted me to move her around the house every hour.“ Sofia fulfilled her patient's wishes, but she herself felt worse and worse - sharp back pains became constant. The Bulgarian woman's condition worsened, she wanted to go home, but only three days later she received a bus ticket to Bulgaria from her employer - a German agency. She was diagnosed with a fracture of the spine, that is, an operation was needed. It went well, but Sofia is still in pain to this day. Even if it can work again, it won't be able to handle the same load under any circumstances.
The woman tried to get sick leave with the help of the Union of German Trade Unions in Munich. From there, they asked her employer for her social security documents, which would have allowed her to take advantage of her rights. And received an answer, but no documents – the employer wrote that Sofia deliberately did not inform him about her osteoporosis and even accused her of deliberately accepting the job in order to receive insurance and treatment in Germany. The Bulgarian, for her part, claims that she had warned her employer about her problem in a conversation.
Accusations by the head of the agency
She keeps hoping for some positive decision, in connection with which the German journalists contacted the head of the agency that mediated for her. And in front of them he insists that she kept quiet about her osteoporosis. It was only after she started work that she presented the relevant certificate in order to benefit from the German welfare system, as he claims. According to the employer, Sofia's case is an attempt to defraud the German social system.
Meanwhile, it is understood that the woman was on social security – but why was she not given the relevant documents in that case? Anyway – her word is against his, and whether Sophia will ever get her money remains unclear.
Dobrina never gets anything
When Dobrina found out eight years ago that she was being paid less than she was due, she filed a complaint in Germany against the agency that hired her. He does it in the name of justice, and to set an example to his other colleagues who are in the same situation – to encourage them to fight, she points out to ARD. Her appeals are going through three levels to determine what pay she was entitled to and whether she should have received extra money for being available all the time.
In the end, the Federal Labor Court ruled in favor of Dobrina – she should receive from her agency a total of 32,500 euros. No one in Germany (of the 24-hour caregivers) had managed to achieve such a thing before. "I trusted justice, I never doubted that I would succeed," Dobrina told ARD. The case attracts the attention of the media, it is marked as a great success, but...Dobrina has not received her due to this day.
Accidental Bankruptcy?
Why? It was sent by a Bulgarian agency that works with a German partner - the requests are received from there, and a person suitable for the case is sent from Bulgaria. He works in Germany, but is paid by the Bulgarian agency, so she is the one who should pay the money to Dobrina. But the Bulgarian agency declared bankruptcy immediately after the court decision.
And now Dobrina has been waiting for eight years – she doesn't know how she could get her money, even though the German court awarded it to her. She turns to a bailiff, from the meeting with whom she leaves furious, as she tells German journalists. There is no new information – the Bulgarian agency is categorically bankrupt and Dobrina will not receive her money. “The court in Germany completed its work in three instances, and here in Bulgaria...“.