LISTEN | Joburg medics ‘punished’ for not working ‘unpaid’ overtime hours

Emergency service workers in Gauteng say they are being punished for refusing to work extra hours they claim they are not being paid for.

Some claim to have had as much as R4,000 deducted from their normal salaries after declining to do the unpaid overtime.

In June letters to Gauteng EMS management, workers rejected strike allegations, explaining they were merely handing over a memorandum, amid a dispute over whether hours beyond 160-a-month constituted overtime. The dispute has already triggered charges and salary deductions.

In the letter, Hillbrow and Mofolo-based employees said: “At no stage have employees indicated an intention to embark upon a strike, work stoppage, abandonment of duties, or withdrawal of labour.”

They said they remained committed to providing emergency services during ordinary hours of work applicable to their employment.

“The issue is the longstanding requirement for EMS personnel to perform excess hours, beyond ordinary working hours, without appropriate authorisation and remuneration,” they said.

For some workers, the dispute had hit their pockets, with three facing disciplinary charges of gross misconduct, insubordination and dereliction of duty, with the hearing expected on September 30.

Hillbrow EMS worker Ntuthuko* said about R4,300 was deducted from his salary after he followed the official 160-hour arrangement and refused to work overtime. “The surprising part is, how can you deduct something that you don’t pay? The suspension affected us very badly, even our family.”

Ntuthuko said workers were being asked to work additional hours without being compensated for overtime. “I’ve never been paid for any additional hours. Instead, I’ve been receiving charges,” he said.

Another Hillbrow EMS worker, Thapelo*, said management confronted him after he refused to work beyond what he regarded as his ordinary hours. “I said to them I don’t want to work overtime because I don’t have any agreement from the employer to say I need to work more than 160 hours.”

Thapelo said he was suspended on June 29 and remained suspended until the first week of August.

“The suspension … it was a nightmare. Waking up doing nothing while your family is depressed was not an easy thing at all.”

Thapelo said civilians needed to know that EMS workers were now working for free. “They must know that from the 27th of every month, when you see emergency medical personnel on the streets during those last four days of the month, you must know that those people are on the street for free.

“Our department is not only victimising the employees, but it is also compromising the lives of Gauteng citizens.”

Wandile* said the dispute could affect morale and, ultimately, patients. “We are providing the essential services, which are emergency medical services that require a fresh and clear mind at all times.”

He said low morale was contributing to absenteeism. “Sometimes there would be no ambulance at all, because people are demoralised.”

Departmental spokesperson Steve Mabona said there were currently no suspended EMS workers, but 21 had been issued with charge sheets for alleged dereliction of duty after failing to complete scheduled working hours.

“EMS is an essential service, and its employees are required to adhere to their contractual obligations and approved shift rosters,” Mabona said.

“Where employees do not report for their scheduled working hours, the applicable no-work-no-pay principle is implemented in accordance with policy.”

Mabona said measures were in place to keep services running, including support from nearby EMS stations.

He said Gauteng EMS was also reviewing its working-hours policy to ensure arrangements were “clear and properly managed”.

The department said it had not threatened employees with dismissal, but the matter had been reported to the Health Professions Council of SA.

DA spokesperson for health Madeleine Hicklin has called for health MEC Faith Mazibuko to urgently investigate the dispute.

“If the department requires EMS personnel to work extra hours, it must properly record and compensate those hours. Instead of disciplining frontline emergency workers, the department should have corrected its rostering system.”