Media

HKU Council approves settlement package for doctors’ holiday compensation

23 Jul 2010

 

The Council of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has approved a settlement package for clinical academic staff working in public hospitals for their on-call duties on rest days and holidays during the period of 2000-2009. 

The settlement package was in line with that offered by the Hospital Authority (HA) to its medical practitioners as a result of the Court's judgment in 2006. 

The University's move came after a joint and long-drawn attempt with the Chinese University of Hong Kong to request for the Government and the University Grants Committee (UGC) to extend the HA package to the eligible staff in the two universities given the similarity of working conditions of these staff members with their HA counterparts, and the fact that the compensation relates mainly to patient-care services provided by the university clinical teachers.   Despite repeated calls, the response so far has not been positive. 

To avoid further delays and bearing in mind the legitimate entitlement of the staff concerned and for goodwill, the Council of the University of Hong Kong decided to put up money upfront to effect the compensation payment, but will continue to work with the UGC to request government funding for this purpose.

It is estimated that the University will pay out a total of around HK$13-14 million.