MANY employees adopt probationary periods for new staff. These periods usually last three to six months and serve as a “trial period” for both the employers and the employees.
Recently an online portal published a claim that the Health Ministry had set a mandatory 18-month confirmation period for specialist doctors. It also claims that medical officers would be paid half their pay during the period.
Is this claim true?
Verdict:
NO
The Health Ministry director-general Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan, dismisses a claim over a new policy that purportedly requires the confirmation period for specialist doctors.
“The claim saying that the ministry has mandated the confirmation period as a specialist doctor up to 18 months and that medical officers receive less than half the salary they should have is completely untrue,” he said in an official Health Ministery statement on Monday (Feb 17).
“The study on the adjustments of the Specialist Incentive Payment (BIP) allowance is currently in the final stages to be aligned with the law,” he added.
Dr Muhammad Radzi said that any changes to the incentives would only be applicable when Act A1729 is enforced.
He said that currently, the Medical (Amendment) Act 2024 (Act A1729), which is the 2024 amendment to the Medical Act 1971 (Act 50), has not yet been enforced.
