A doctor who is claiming more than 22,000 hours' time-off from the Hospital Authority did not read the sections in his contract regarding overtime when he signed up for the job, a court heard yesterday.
Leung Ka-lau admitted to Judge William Stone that he had not read or been aware of a section in the 1991 Hospital Authority Personnel Policies Procedure Manual - referred to in his contract - that said time-off could not be claimed for overtime for which no compensation was payable.
Dr Leung, the first of 165 doctors suing the Hospital Authority over alleged breach of contract to testify in the Court of First Instance, maintained during his second day of evidence that he was entitled to compensation for every hour of overtime worked since 1996 - 22,200 hours.
The plaintiffs claim they are owed compensation for working on public holidays and rest days, and for every hour they were 'on call', over the past decade. The Hospital Authority says doctors have never been compelled to work on rest days, and that being on call is an inalienable part of the job that needs no compensation.
Dr Leung argued that even if a doctor was not called in or consulted over the telephone during a 24-hour on-call period, he or she should be compensated for the time - even time spent sleeping.
He agreed with Justice Stone that being on call was part of the job, but denied that meant it was in any way exempt from consideration for overtime. It was not factored into his $144,980 monthly salary, which included a $3,500 honorarium, he said. That honorarium, according to the Hospital Authority, is included as compensation for the fact doctors do work overtime. But Dr Leung, questioned by Adrian Huggins SC, for the authority, contended it was merely a gratuity with no special purpose.