Doctors must sue their hospitals to get overtime paid

Krzysztof Bukiel, the head of the doctor's trade union, estimated that over 2,000 lawsuits have been filed to the courts. Czesław Miś was the first doctor who won a case against his hospital. Two years ago the court in Nowy Sącz ruled that the doctor had the right to receive the same time off or payment. Nevertheless, the hospitals continue to deny the doctors a free day and are still not paying them unless ordered by a court. The directors of hospitals explained that they cannot pay the doctors without the court ruling. Krzysztof Bukiel stated that the government also pretends that this problem does not exist and the doctors have to defend their interests themselves. Therefore, the doctors' trade union offers a template of a lawsuit against the hospital on its website. It is based on the EU directives regulating the working time. It is thought as many as 60,000 doctors may file such lawsuits to the courts.