ZAGREB, December 11, 2019 – Following a ruling by the Supreme Court that doctors are entitled to higher pay for overtime, Health Minister Milan Kujundžić said on Tuesday he would try together with the HLS physicians’ union to find a solution to this issue.
The Supreme Court ruling says that reimbursement to doctors for overtime work should also include compensation for specific work conditions and other benefits, which means that the debt to doctors accrued due to miscalculation of overtime pay is estimated at 1.5 billion kuna (203 million kuna), and so far 4,000 physicians have taken legal action against their employers over this problem.
Several hundred final verdicts have been handed down to date.
The Supreme Court ruling has been applauded by the HLS union and the Croatian Medical Chamber (HLK).
“This is our joint victory in the struggle for doctors’ rights,” HLK leader Krešimir Luetić said today.
HLS leader Renata Čulinović-Čaić said the ruling confirmed physicians’ claims that their overtime pay was miscalculated. Now it is up to the ministry to think and find ways to pay what we have earned, she added.
Kujundžić said that the ministry would try to reach agreement with the HLS on the pace and schedule of payment of that debt. He added that the problem was inherited from the government which was in power in 2013.
More news about the healthcare system can be found in the Lifestyle section.
