Pay cuts spark protests

The proposed pay hike for Dubai's public sector medics may prove to be a pay cut, claim government physicians, as the restructuring of allowances see net wages fall.

Under a revised payment scheme introduced in August, physicians have been stripped of individual allowances, such as cost of living benefits, but compensated with a reported 20% pay boost.

Now, contract talks have stalled in the face of a flurry of protests from affected physicians, who claim that, while administrators' wages have peaked, theirs have slipped.

A government physician who asked not to be named said: "Salaries went up but the allowances were removed, so it wasn't a boost at all. [Now] some of the administrators have almost double the salary compared to the doctors."

The reversal has caused widespread complaints, he said, calling the move "illogical".

"You cannot run a hospital with administrators only, but you can with doctors."

Jamal Fareed Nagi, director of human resources at Dubai's Department of Health and Medical Services (DoHMS) admitted the department had received 250 complaints but insisted the pay increase still stands.

"Believe me, things are better than before. If they got AED10,000 before, now they get AED12,000."

Employees may not understand their entitlements under the new scheme, Nagi suggests, and so wrongly believe their pay has dropped. "Staff don't know what allowances they get or not... and some of this is not clear yet."

Nagi has urged employees to contact the HR department for advice on their entitlements.

"The director has announced that he is willing to listen and we are assessing the comments," he said. "People will complain, so let's hear their complaint."