„Tariftreue“ in der Altenpflege

Care professions are among the professions with the greatest skills gaps. In the past, acute shortages of skilled workers, persistent wage disparities and personnel-related supply shortages in geriatric care have significantly increased the pressure on politicians and the social service sector itself to improve wages and working conditions in the long term. With the introduction of “tariff compliance” regulations in the care sector, a long history of collective bargaining efforts reached its preliminary climax. The term “tariff compliance” only applies to a limited extent because the new legal regulations also include other options for care enterprises that are not bound by collective bargaining agreements in order to obtain approval for long-term care. The implementation of the new legal regulations takes place in a governance arrangement in which standard-setting processes in the reciprocal reference to care-related collective bargaining and social policy will in future also be shaped by actors outside the system of industrial relations. The article takes stock of the change process so far, indicates its problems and inquires into further perspectives.