In September 2019, a committee of UAPD physicians and staff forced LA County Mid-Valley Comprehensive Health Center (MVCHC) management to agree to pay physicians for overtime hours worked and to refrain from imposing increased workload.
It was in August of 2019 that physicians at MVCHC reported to UAPD staff that they were not getting paid for overtime hours they were working due to excessive workload and that management was telling physicians it would be increasing the number of patients that physicians would have to see per 4-hour session. LA County physicians are hourly employees entitled to overtime pay at a straight time rate (per California law) for hours worked beyond their regular work hours. Physician workload was so excessive that physicians were taking work home, coming in early and staying late, and not taking breaks to keep up. While some of the overtime work was compensated, much of it wasn’t, with management relying on a combination of intimidation and physician’s work ethic and commitment to their patients to avoid paying them for hours worked. UAPD immediately issued a cease and desist and demand to negotiate letter and over the course of the next few weeks was able to force management to comply with the law and pay employees for all overtime hours worked, and to refrain from imposing the increase in workload.