Speaking with SaharaReporters, some of the affected doctors said that many of them are in pain and financial distress as they are paid less than medical interns despite their several years of practice in their careers.
Medical doctors working with the British Oil and Gas Exploration Limited (BOGEL) in Nigeria have lamented how the oil company not only undervalues them and denies them many welfare packages and sacks any of them who dares demand payment of due allowances and other welfare packages.
Speaking with SaharaReporters, some of the affected doctors said that many of them are in pain and financial distress as they are paid less than medical interns despite their several years of practice in their careers.
The doctors who preferred hidden identities for security reasons alleged that BOGEL has been engaging in shady and obscure dealings including “recruiting doctors through the back door and these unsuspecting doctors are not informed properly about the salary and working schedule. It is only when we started working that we got to know how much we will be paid. Contracts are offered later by proxy consultancy companies that do not exist and are faceless.”
The doctors lamented that the company organises no training for nor give them health insurance despite that they work round the clock though they were contracted to work for just 12 hours daily.
“Many doctors tried to complain to the company for improvement but they were indirectly sacked for that. The situation is so serious that anyone who tries to complain is verbally threatened by the HRs (Human Resources Managers) of the company.
“At this point, we can't continue to suffer and be undervalued as professionals by a foreign company that is making huge wealth on Nigeria's soil,” one of the aggrieved doctors said.
They told SaharaReporters that some of them were recently sacked after they gathered themselves from various units known as Durga Rigs and wrote to the management of BOGEL to express their concerns over/and make demands for better welfare packages and allowances.
The doctors lamented in the letter that while “The basic salary of medical interns who are the lowest cadre of doctors in non-oil companies is well above N250,000. As medical officers in BOGEL, our basic salary falls far short of what is appropriate for our grade.
“The high cost of living be-speaks the need for a fair salary raise. It would not speak well of a company of this calibre if its doctors are just managing financially to stay afloat. We are rated less than some skilled personnel and this has created a feeling that we are not valued as medical doctors in this company.
“It is noteworthy that in this company, the medical doctors are also supervisors, and in all fairness should be entitled to the salary rating and allowances befitting for a supervisor,” part of the letter read.
They further noted “Our employment engagement says 12 hours, but in our practice here, we do work for 24 hours. This is equivalent to two typical hospital shifts or call duties. So on the side of fairness, we ought to be paid double our basic salaries or a fixed call duty allowance. Not to mention that besides being a doctor, we work as nurses, health assistants, dispensing pharmacists, health educationists and occupational physicians combined.
“We sometimes manage medical cases at night, be it minor or severe, as we cannot turn down personnel even if our stated work schedule is 12 hours. We have, therefore, been handling emergency cases which would ordinarily cost the company more if we had referred, thus saving the company cost and personnel lost time.
“It is on these premises that we are suggesting that our handling of admitted cases for at least 24 hours should be reflected in our salary. We believe that your good conscience will agree that "every worker deserves what is his due".
In terms of hazard allowance, the doctors said that they are always faced, at their workplace with hazards unique to healthcare, pointing out that the Nigerian government recently adjusted hazard allowance for health workers to be above N35,000 but in BOGEL, some of them are given as low as N10,000.
They also lamented other poor working conditions including absence of cabins television/DSTV cables and intercom in their offices; inadequate means of transportation as “On our crew change days, it is expected that we wait for our relievers before proceeding on time off. This is tantamount to missing the crew bus. We are left to struggle later to find a way to transport ourselves from the rig amidst security concerns and extra financial costs, whereas, there is always in place some special arrangement to transport other senior staff. In this aspect we feel greatly undervalued.”
The aggrieved doctors also noted that BOGEL ruled out career advancement for them despite that it is imperative that as practicing doctors, they need further training and certification courses in various aspects such as emergency medical care, safety and occupational health.
They therefore amongst other things demanded that BOGEL should raise their salaries, not only to meet the standards that apply to doctors of specific level grades but also to take into cognizance the current economic realities.
“We kindly recommend that you introduce a "call (night) duty allowance" into our contracts or an equivalent of a double shift or that the overtime rule should be applied to the extra daily 12 hours we work.
“That our salary structure aligns with the Federal government’s position on hazard allowance of at least N35,000 for doctors. That televisions/DSTV and intercom should be installed in our cabins.
“That special arrangements as per mobility should be arranged for us on our crew change days considering the unique challenges we face on this day as earlier stated and organize further training/certificate courses for doctors during their time off.”
When SaharaReporters contacted the National Human Resources officer of BOGEL, Jeff Base, for comments, he did not answer all the calls made to his phone number nor respond to text message sent to him till the time of filing this report.