Junior doctors restive as finance ministry reportedly ignores them in overtime payment talks

Junior doctors are reportedly restive over the finance ministry's alleged failure to meet with their union to discuss the new policy to govern overtime payments.

Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke said the Government is working to finalise the policy by March 31, the end of the current financial year. 

Clarke also said the Government has been "actively working" with public sector unions and staff associations to arrive at the final policy.

But in a media release, the Jamaica Medical Doctors' Association (JMDA) said the finance ministry has failed to have a first meeting with it regarding the policy and has not answered its letters regarding the matter.

"While we are delighted that other unions were able to have two to three meetings over the last few weeks, it appears as though the plight of doctors has been largely forgotten. The JMDA deems the actions of the ministry to be unacceptable and a blatant disregard for the doctors who work tirelessly in the service of our nation," the JMDA said.

The association is calling for the matter to be addressed urgently.

The new overtime policy is being developed under the controversial public sector compensation reform that was implemented over the last 12 months. It involved approximately 40 public sector unions and over 100 public bodies. 

Clarke said a feature of the reform has been the rationalisation of allowances paid in the public sector and chief among them is payment made for work done outside of normal working hours.

The minister said the new policy will establish "clear and consistent principles" to govern the treatment of work done outside of normal working hours and guidelines for the application of payment.

Under the old system, some categories of workers were paid duty allowances regardless of whether they worked overtime while others who did additional work did not benefit from the allowance.

In other instances, persons would be able to claim overtime after working past a set time of the day but with the changes, managers will be able to roster people at various times daily to first cover the 40-hour work week. 

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