KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 — A new shift system limits doctors and dentists in the public health service to 18 consecutive work hours, lower than the current 24 to 33 straight hours from on-call duties.
But the Waktu Bekerja Berlainan (WBB) system by the Ministry of Health (MOH) does not provide allowance for working at night after 5pm on weekdays, treating graveyard shifts like regular working hours as part of the 45-hour workweek.
The new WBB system – which will pilot on February 1 in seven government hospitals – essentially considers just weekend or public holiday work as on-call duty. Even then, certain shifts are only eligible for the passive call allowance, instead of active call. As such, the take-home pay for medical and dental officers and specialists is set to drop.
The current on-call system is more straightforward, compensating doctors for working outside regular hours on weekdays, as well as weekends and public holidays, albeit with longer work hours than the WBB shift system.
For WBB shifts on weekdays (3pm-9am), officers are not eligible for the Elaun Tugas Atas Panggilan (ETAP) allowance because their 18-hour shift is included in a 45-hour work week. This means a whopping 16 hours of work after 5pm are not given additional compensation.
For WBB shifts (3pm-9am) pre-Saturday, pre-weekend (Sunday or Friday), or pre-public holiday, officers are not eligible to claim ETAP for the first nine hours, which are included in the 45-hour work week, whereas the following nine hours are eligible for passive ETAP claims (more than four hours). This means seven hours of work after 5pm on the weekday (5pm-12am) are not additionally compensated.
The higher on-call allowance of RM275 per shift and RM315 per shift for medical officers and specialist doctors respectively only apply to WBB active calls on weekends or public holidays for 15 or more consecutive hours’ work outside regular hours. This on-call allowance increment is only available to departments or units that implement WBB.
In contrast, non-WBB active calls will only be compensated RM220 per shift and RM250 per shift for medical officers and specialist doctors respectively on weekends and public holidays – RM55 and RM65 lower respectively than WBB active calls. On weekdays, the allowance is set at RM200 and RM230 per shift respectively.
For Saturday, weekend (Sunday or Friday), or public holiday followed by weekend (Sunday or Friday), Saturday, or public holiday, WBB is divided into two groups, where each group will be on-call for 15 consecutive hours. The first group performs active on-call from 7am to 10pm. The second group’s active on-call duty is from 6pm to 9am. This category is eligible for active ETAP allowance at the new rate.
For Saturday, weekend (Sunday or Friday), or public holiday followed by weekday, WBB is divided into two groups, where the first group will be on active on-call duty for 15 consecutive hours (7am-10pm), whereas the second group will be on passive call for four consecutive hours (8pm-12am). Only the first group is eligible for active ETAP allowance at the new rate, whereas the second group can claim passive ETAP for four hours.
Officers in the second group will continue working nine hours the next weekday (12am-9am) to fulfil a base 45-hour workweek. There is no allowance for this graveyard shift.
For officers slated to replace someone on WBB on a weekday due to emergency leave, they will work regular hours and perform on-call duties like the current practice at the present allowance rate. Regular workhours are from 8am to 5pm on weekdays.
Officers can claim active ETAP if they work 33 consecutive hours until 5pm the next day, but they can only claim passive ETAP if they work until 9am the next day.
To read a short summary of the WBB system, click here.
“The base work roster for medical/ dental officers and specialist medical/ dental officers is 45 hours (based on working hours in a week that exclude on-call duties) and must not be more than 72 hours (including on-call duties), subject to resource availability,” according to guidelines attached to a January 10 circular by MOH medical development division director Dr Mohd Azman Yacob, as sighted by CodeBlue. Seventy-two hours per week is equivalent to more than 10 hours’ work per day for seven days.
“The Waktu Bekerja Berlainan (WBB) guidelines are introduced to ensure that medical officers do not work for more than 18 consecutive hours, improving the quality of life and welfare of medical officers and increasing service quality for patients.
“The basis for implementing WBB is in the interest of service, subject to availability of human resources and facilities.”
According to the guidelines, WBB will be the basis for the raise in the ETAP allowance rate for doctors and dentists.
The guidelines, prepared by the Medical Advisory & Action Committee under the medical development division, stated that the implementation of WBB is “targeted and in phases, depending on human resource availability and facility preparedness.”
“WBB can be implemented either fully or partially by the relevant department. WBB implementation is also dynamic, depending on human resource availability at a particular time. If there are limitations to implementing WBB, hospitals or health institutions can run the current on-call system until those limitations can be resolved.”
The first phase of the WBB system will be implemented until March in select departments in seven government hospitals: Tunku Azizah Hospital in Kuala Lumpur (NICU/ PICU), Slim River Hospital in Perak (medical), Putrajaya Hospital (obstetric & gynaecology), Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Perak (orthopaedic), Melaka Hospital (orthopaedic and emergency & trauma), Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Kedah (emergency & trauma), and Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Klang Hospital in Selangor (oral and maxillofacial surgery).
The second WBB phase from April to September will see additional locations and services like anaesthesia and surgery, among other departments.
The third phase from October 2025 is the stabilisation phase with continued monitoring.
