Sesau will pay debt to employees in installments.

Tocantins 247 - To guarantee the payment of approximately R$ 20 million in overdue debts to professionals at the State Health Secretariat (Sesau), the Government of Tocantins will pay off the debt left by the previous administration in installments, due to the non-payment of extra shifts, bonuses, and productivity incentives.

The debt includes liabilities from the period of September to December 2014 and particularly affects professionals who worked shifts outside their regular working hours to fill the service schedules of hospitals in the state network.

In a press conference held this Friday, the 13th, the state Secretary of Health, Samuel Bonilha, informed that the debt will be paid in installments. The first installment of approximately R$ 5 million, referring to the payment for extra shifts worked in September 2014, will be paid on February 25th. The second installment, referring to the debt from October 2014 and January 2015, will be paid on March 12th. In April, the third installment will be paid, referring to extra shifts worked in November 2014 and February 2015. In May, the extraordinary shifts worked in December 2014 and March 2015 will be paid.

Recommendations

During the press conference, Bonilha clarified that the payments will be made within the payroll, as recommended by the National Audit Department of the Unified Health System (Denasus), the State Court of Auditors (TCE), and the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU). “Previous payments were made as indemnities and outside the payroll, which generated another debt of over R$ 17 million, related to fines and social security contributions not transferred to Social Security between 2009 and 2014,” the secretary informed.

Regarding this debt, a special audit conducted by the State Comptroller General's Office (CGE) will be responsible for determining who is responsible for making payments outside of the payroll, which resulted in the non-collection of approximately R$ 6,4 million and another R$ 10.6369.25,56 in fines, late payment interest, and legal charges.

Bonilha also emphasized that extraordinary shifts are legal, and that payments must follow the recommendations of the oversight bodies. “We will pay and we will continue to pay, because extra shifts are legal as long as they are done to meet the demands of the schedules and exceed the normal working hours of the professionals,” he stressed, adding that the payments will be made as part of the employees' remuneration, respecting the constitutional salary cap for public agents. “Everything that has been recommended will be done,” the secretary assured.

The measure is expected to affect 293 civil servants who currently receive remuneration for their regular working hours close to the constitutional ceiling for the State Executive branch, and whose overtime payments, made as compensation, exceeded the constitutional ceiling. "Now everything will be incorporated into their salaries, as determined by the State Audit Court," added the secretary.

Demand for professionals

As detailed by the state Undersecretary of Health, Auri Gonçalves, the change in the payment method for extra shifts may affect the filling of schedules for doctors who received amounts exceeding the legal limit between remuneration and extra shifts. "This is a problem we will face," she explained.

Regarding the demand for doctors to fill hospital schedules, Bonilha reinforced the immediate hiring of doctors and confirmed the holding of a public competition for the Health Department. According to the secretary, the initial salary for hired doctors will be R$ 6,9 and, with the addition of extra shifts, can reach the state executive's salary cap.

"Once we have paid off the debts related to shifts and organized the accounts, we will hold a new competitive examination, as determined by Governor Marcelo Miranda," he assured. The Health Department (Sesau) has not yet defined the number of positions that will be offered in the examination.

(From Sesau)