Junior doctors seek compensation for overtime and meal allowances
Young mother and soon to be doctor, Ashleigh Ray, is dreading her new placement, fearing the “horror” stories of crazy unpaid overtime will be true.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Young mother and soon to be doctor Ashleigh Ray is dreading her new placement, fearing the “horror” stories of crazy unpaid overtime will be true.
The 32-year-old final year medical student from Western Sydney University will soon be juggling her internship at Wollongong Hospital with looking after her three-year-old daughter Edith.
She has joined hundreds of doctors urging the government to amend the doctor’s employment award.
“I’m more than happy to work overtime for emergencies, as doctors are expected to do. But I’ve seen doctors having to stay back until late in the evening because it suited the supervisor’s schedule that day,” Ms Ray said.
“I have friends who feel pressured not to report their overtime. That’s a problem because the executives aren’t aware of the extra hours junior doctors are doing because we’re not logging them.”
The action, led by the doctor’s union — The Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation — is the first time in Australia the government has been sued for breaching the employment award by failing to pay overtime and meal allowances.
Union president Tony Sara spoke addressed the media on Wednesday morning outside The Supreme Court, joined by a cohort of doctors, before they left to raise the issue with a group of parliamentarians at state parliament.
“This is the same employment clause as when I was an intern 30 years ago. We’ve tried and tried. The junior doctors went on strike in the late 80s and nothing’s changed,” Dr Sara said.
“We‘ve done the last thing we can possibly do and are suing the state government for wage theft. Enough is enough – time’s up.”
He said they would argue $10,000 should be reimbursed for every doctor.
Young doctor Yvonne Nguyen said they were tired and “stretched to the bone”.
“It’s not ending. We talk about it and it goes away … we need a better award,” she said.
Dr Nguyen said they were making mistakes due to fatigue which could be putting lives at risk.
“They go to work until 10pm, then are on call getting 30 or 40 calls overnight, before going back to work in the morning. Do you really want those doctors looking after you?” she said.
“They’re making mistakes. They’re obviously not trying to … but there are limits. We’re all humans.”
JUNIOR DOCTORS DEMAND MORE PAY
A group of junior doctors are meeting at the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday to start the process of suing the government for wage theft.
The Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (ASMOF) is leading the charge on behalf of the cohort, claiming NSW Health has breached the doctors employment award by failing to pay overtime and meal allowances.
Union president Tony Sara said junior doctors avoid “ruffling feathers”, agreeing to “beyond normal and reasonable” working hours.
“They get extra shifts, they are under the pump … and they will do whatever they have to without complaint. We‘ve got increased suicide rates, we’ve got increased mental illness among the junior doctors. It’s an intolerable situation,” Dr Sara said.
“It‘s not quite slavery, but they’re being forced into doing stuff that’s way beyond what’s normal and reasonable.”
He said their goal was to change the Medical Officers’ Award by ensuring doctors are paid for the hours they work and are protected in the workplace.
They are also seeking orders to penalise the government and to recover unpaid overtime.
“Almost every doctor will tell you that they’ve been forced to work long hours of unpaid overtime throughout their training. The impact that has on the whole system, including our patients, can’t be underestimated,“ Dr Sara said.
The move follows a class action launched against NSW Health 12 months ago, which was the first action of its kind in Australia. It is expected to go to trial in 2022.
It covers the whole of the NSW junior doctor workforce from 2014 to 2021, whereas the ASMOF action seeks reparation for a group of named doctors.
Dr Amireh Fakhouri is the lead plaintiff, with Maurice Blackburn Lawyers is running the class action with Hayden Stephens and Associates.
Class action lawyer Hayden Stephens said he hoped the union’s action would contribute to Ms Fakhouri’s campaign for fair treatment for junior doctors at NSW Health.
“This issue of underpayments is not going to go away until it is fixed. Wage theft cannot continue to be a normalised part of the public health system in NSW,” Mr Stephens said.
“NSW Health must direct its efforts to finding solutions. This is clearly a widespread and systemic problem.”
NSW Health strongly denies the allegations in the class action and has not been able to respond to the allegations in the ASMOF case, expected to be filed to court on Wednesday.
Double bogey: Alleged car thief takes shot at bail after being hooked
An alleged car thief, accused of taking police on a wild drive that ended up on a Newcastle golf course, has also been hit with drug and weapons charges before his bid for bail was knocked out of bounds.
Alleged home invader ‘rolled’ victims for drugs, court told
A man who allegedly “rolled” victims for drugs in separate home invasions, just two days apart, has been refused bail despite an impassioned plea that he’s changed his ways.