Doctors warn of healthcare disruption if overtime ruling delayed

The Jamaica Medical Doctors Association (JMDA) has warned of potential disruptions to the public healthcare system if the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT) fails to make a ruling on its case by Friday, October 2.

“We’ve worked for the past 42 months, long hours, in some of the most adverse conditions. In resource deficient facilities, with poor accommodation, and high doctor patient ratios. We’ve worked, we deserve to be paid, we deserve a ruling. Our patience has been exhausted,” president of the JMDA Dr Jubilee Brown-Service said at a press conference at the Medallion Hall Hotel in St Andrew on Tuesday.

The association has been pressing the IDT to make an award of $31 billion in back money for overtime, while the Government’s calculation for retroactive overtime payment for the doctors is $23 billion.

General secretary of the JMDA, Dr Fabian Brown, said the case was completed on April 1, 2026, and more than 170 pieces of evidence were presented.

“And nearly six months later, our members are still waiting on a ruling for their overtime,” he said.

“That delay is unacceptable and it raises serious questions about the accountability, transparency and timely administration of justice in industrial disputes. Workers should not be left in prolonged uncertainty when financial pressures mount and their bargaining position is weakened.”

Trade unionist Lambert Brown, who represented the doctors, argued that they were forced to work way beyond their specific shifts at times, noting that the Government’s 15-hour-per-week overtime policy, if applied to doctors, could lead to chaos in the public health sector.

He told the IDT that doctors were currently being paid 2021 overtime rates.

“There are doctors who every other day must work 24 hours per day. That’s called one in two. For a doctor who is working 24 hours every other day, it means that the pay they get every month, two thirds of that pay, is at a rate of 2021 salary,” he said.

The trade unionist suggested that there are “people interfering, and trying to influence the panel of three as to what decision they must make”, thus causing the delay in the ruling.

“There are a lot of busy bodies around, some who believe that ‘oh, the Government didn’t put up a strong case, but see what you can do for the Government because there may be national interest issues, and the Government can’t afford it’,” he said.

In early September, the JMDA stated that it would give the IDT more time to hand down a decision, while expressing frustration with the long delay.

Weeks later, it warned of the disruptions to the public healthcare system as junior doctors were restive.

The JMDA is once again demanding that the IDT act. It asserted that the tribunal should provide a clear explanation for the delay, a firm timetable for a decision, and an independent ruling based on evidence presented to the tribunal.

“This is not a demand for special treatment; it is a demand for the same that has been given to every other worker of Jamaica. It is a demand for fairness, accountability and respect for the rights of Jamaicans, Jamaican workers and the rights of medical doctors,” Dr Brown stated.

- Sashana Small

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