A female surgeon had to work a less favorable schedule than a male colleague

The doctor, who wanted to work at a more convenient time for her, asked many times to adjust her work schedule, but she was only partially heard – the changes only lasted for a while, and she was still not satisfied with the created conditions. The doctor wrote a complaint to the Service regarding this situation.

They asked to change the schedule for five months

As the woman explained in the complaint, she works in the Department of Breast Surgery and Oncology, and her working day is divided: part of the time she performs operations at the National Cancer Institute, part of the time she consults at the polyclinic. The doctor wanted to operate more often in the mornings, as the male surgeons in the department did. According to the applicant, this time is more favorable for both the doctor and the patient.

According to the applicant, since last June, she has been asking her managers to change her work schedule and allow her to perform operations in the mornings at least two days a week, but she did not receive this. Finally, only in October, doctors were assigned two morning shifts in the department.

However, according to the woman, she was given the most inconvenient days to perform the operations – Monday and Friday. “It is clear that the head of the department deliberately tried to create the worst possible working conditions for me as a woman,” the surgeon claimed in the complaint.

Discriminated on the basis of gender

During the investigation, the representatives of the Office of the Equal Opportunities Controller analyzed the work schedules of the surgeons working in the department, their competences and experience, reviewed the minutes of the meetings and other internal legislation and found a violation of equal opportunities. It was established that the doctor who filed the complaint was discriminated once morest on the basis of gender.

“Despite the efforts of the institute’s management, the applicant was not given the same opportunity to combine working hours compared to a male colleague with the same competence and performing the same functions. It is likely that this might have limited her ability to raise her qualifications, which might have had a negative impact on the competence of the practicing doctor-surgeon”, commented Renata Vanagėlienė, the lawyer of the Service, on the situation.

During the investigation, it was also discovered that the administration of the National Cancer Institute repeatedly called on the head of the department to create a non-discriminatory work schedule for the applicant, but the latter either ignored the calls or only partially implemented them. As a result, the heads of the Institute imposed a disciplinary penalty – a warning – on the head of the department.

Lawyer R.Vanagėlienė reminded that according to the Law on Equal Opportunities, as well as the Labor Code, the employer’s duty is to create equal working conditions and opportunities to raise qualifications, regardless of the employee’s gender, race, age, sexual orientation and other signs of personal identity.