Health service employers yesterday condemned what they said was a decision by the Irish Medical Organisation to pull out of a Labour Court hearing scheduled for tomorrow on the issue of overtime payments for Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors.
The IMO says it withdrew its request for the hearing - sought jointly by both bodies - because of separate, complex discussions on hospital doctors' rosters in the Labour Relations Commission on which, it says, it wishes to focus.
The row concerns two of the main issues concerning NCHDs which are being dealt with, or are due to be dealt with, by the State's dispute resolution machinery.
The first concerns the point at which overtime for doctors should begin during the working week. The IMO argues that work done after 5 p.m., Monday to Thursday, or 4 p.m. on Friday should be paid for at overtime rates.
A doctor who works from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday should be paid overtime for the two hours from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., it argues.
The Health Service Employers' Agency argues that overtime should not apply until after the doctor has worked his or her 39 basic hours, regardless of when they are worked. This, it says, is standard practice in the health service, the public service and the wider economy. If this argument prevailed, a doctor working from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday would not get overtime: all 10 hours would be regarded as part of his or her 39 hour basic week. This issue was due to be addressed in the Labour Court tomorrow.
However, in a separate process, the Labour Relations Commission is attempting to resolve a dispute over whether a doctor can be rostered to work his or her basic 39 hours outside 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday.
This issue lead to recent strikes at Waterford General Hospital and Midland General Hospital, Tullamore and NCHDs nationwide have voted for industrial action if it is not resolved.
The HSEA says the two issues are linked and that tomorrow's Labour Court hearing would have contributed to resolving the dispute. The IMO says there is no link between the issues.
It says the rosters issue is about a reduction in training for NCHDs - a claim disputed by the HSEA.
Talks on rosters adjourned yesterday until this day week with the IMO complaining that it had not yet seen the HSEA's detailed submission on the issue.