Public doctors are threatening legal action against the Hospital Authority for depriving them of statutory holidays.
Almost three-quarters of doctors in public hospitals say they have not been given the breaks due to them for extra work done to cover staff shortages.
Employers are legally required to give compensation days off if staff have to work on the 12 statutory holidays each year. The penalty for not doing so is a maximum fine of $50,000.
Public Doctors' Association president Dr Lai Kang-yiu said yesterday that the authority must adhere to the law.
'What the authority is doing is illegal. We are going to hire a law firm to clarify our rights.
'The authority should at least allow us to have statutory holidays before dealing with our long working hours. Doctors have been putting up with this for a long time to keep the public service running.' It is understood the practice has been in place for decades.
Of 988 respondents to an association survey last month, 74 per cent said they had not been given compensation days.
