Jamaicans should know today what action angry junior doctors will take on the matter of overtime rates which has been before the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT) for the past year.

The doctors were in a meeting late Thursday afternoon deliberating what the Jamaica Medical Doctors’ Association (JMDA) said will be “its next approach to the matter”.

The meeting followed an announcement by JMDA President Dr Jubilee BrownService on Tuesday that the body “cannot guarantee normalcy in the health sector” if the IDT does not hand down a ruling today.

At the time Brown-Service argued that doctors are still being paid at 2021 rates, under the compensation restructure — an accumulating cost that will have to be paid.

According to the JMDA, the Government owes the body $31 billion in retroactive overtime, but the Government’s calculation sits at $23 billion.

The JMDA has been consistent. We’ve placed our case before the IDT with great detail, and today we summarised our case. The JMDA remains resolute in our position. We’ve worked. We deserve a ruling. Our patience has been exhausted,” Brown-Service said.

“Telling us that the ruling will be handed down as soon as possible, or as soon as it’s practicable, is what is written in the Act, and it’s ambiguous and we believe it’s a loophole that is being used to continue to exploit us. We have been working at the rates below the standard rate,” Brown-Service told the Jamaica Observer on Thursday.

She was responding to a release by the IDT on Wednesday which sought to reassure the association that a ruling will be handed down as soon as practicable.

“We are fully aware that unusual delays in handing down awards could erode the public’s confidence in the work of the IDT as a quasi-judicial body charged with the responsibility of balancing justice between employers and workers in the industrial relations system,” the IDT said.

“The delivering of awards with reasonable promptness is a core judicial function. Where delays are excessive, we have a duty to apologise and urge the parties to the dispute, as well as the public, to exercise patience. The IDT remains committed to delivering reasoned and fair rulings, and will continuously work to improve benchmark standards for more timely delivery of awards as soon as proceedings are completed,” the IDT said.

But on Thursday, BrownService argued that the ruling needs to be handed down in an expeditious manner. “We are still waiting six months after the close of the hearing. We are not satisfied, we’re dissatisfied,” BrownService told the Observer. The dispute, which dates back to 2023, was referred to the IDT in 2025. The JMDA said it completed its case before the IDT on April 1.

In its release the IDT noted that while the legal maxim holds true that ‘justice delayed is justice denied’, the body remains mindful that in complex and intricate matters, requiring extensive review of exhibits and authorities, ‘justice must also be careful’.

But that explanation was quickly dismissed by the JMDA head who argued that at the time when the panel was convened, the body was assured that its case would be prioritised.

“I don’t necessarily agree that it’s that complex. I agree that the magnitude of the material is extensive because the JMDA was very thorough. We were prepared and so we presented to the panel a large amount of documents. I’ll admit that much, but the panel is a panel of very competent individuals.This is their area of expertise, that’s why they were chosen,” she said, adding that the JMDA maintains that the undue delay is unreasonable and unfair to the doctors.

On Tuesday, the Health and Wellness Ministry assured that it will put measures in place to minimise the impact of any interruptions to health-care service if the country’s doctors go on strike.

“The Ministry of Health and Wellness acknowledges the concerns of the Jamaica Medical Doctors’ Association regarding the delivery of a decision by the Industrial Disputes Tribunal in relation to the dispute over overtime payments and related matters.

The ministry is also awaiting the decision of the IDT, an independent statutory body established to determine and settle industrial disputes referred to it, and urges the continued patience of all parties, given the complexity of the matters under consideration by the tribunal,” the health ministry said in a release.