KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 — The government has decided to expand the RM80 hourly locum allowance for medical officers on extended hours (EH) duty at klinik kesihatan and outpatient clinics at emergency departments to weekends (either Sunday or Friday).
Pharmacy officers and X-ray technicians from the management and professional group – who have previously never received locum allowances – are also now eligible to receive an RM25 hourly locum allowance for EH duty at public health clinics and outpatient clinics at the emergency departments of government hospitals.
Theselocum allowances – expanded to weekends (hari kelepasan mingguan on Sunday or Friday) for doctors and all days on duty for pharmacists and X-ray technicians – came into effect on January 1, 2024.
The locum allowance rate is also limited to a maximum of four hours’ work per day for these three groups of officers.
Deputy Health Minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni made the announcement on the expansion of the locum allowances during his winding-up speech in the debate on the motion of thanks on the royal address in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
“The Ministry of Health wishes to thank the Public Service Department (JPA) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) for their consideration and approval,” Lukanisman told Parliament.
Separately, Lukanisman said that raising the on-call allowance rate for doctors was among Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad’s 100-day key performance indicator (KPI) and that this was in the final stages of finalisation before presentation to the central agency for approval. Medical officers have demanded for a 178 per cent increase of their RM9 hourly weekend on-call allowance to RM25 per hour.
Prior to the announcement on the locum allowance, medical officers on EH duty in three public health clinics in Selangor complained about not getting paid for work on Sundays and public holidays, as they were told to claim hours, or replacement leave, instead.
Following CodeBlue’s report last February 20 on complaints from the Selangor doctors, Dzulkefly announced three days later government approval for doctors’ locum allowances.
The health and deputy health ministers’ announcements were formalised in a circular issued today by MOH deputy secretary-general (finance) Norazman Ayob, as sighted by CodeBlue, who said the expansion of the locum allowances for EH duty was approved by the government last Tuesday.
The TKSU’s circular listed 75 hospitals in Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor, the Federal Territories, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Sabah, and Sarawak that have been gazetted for payment of the locum allowance for after-hours duty at klinik kesihatan and the outpatient clinic at emergency departments. A total of 53 public health clinics in those states, except Terengganu, were also gazetted for payment of the locum allowance.
The TKSU’s circular stated the following operating hours of the facilities with payment of the locum allowance that is named Elaun Bertugas Pegawai Perubatan Selepas Waktu Pejabat di Klinik Kesihatan dan Jabatan Kecemasan Hospital (although this allowance also applies to pharmacy officers and X-ray technicians).
Perlis, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Pahang, Sarawak, Sabah, and the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, and Labuan:
- Monday to Friday: 5pm to 10pm
- Saturday (hari rehat), Sunday (hari kelepasan mingguan), and public holidays: 8am to 12am
Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, and Johor:
- Sunday to Thursday: 5pm to 10pm
- Friday (hari kelepasan mingguan), Saturday, (hari rehat), and public holidays: 8am to 12am
Operating hours are subject to current instructions by the MOH.
