Chief physician Preben Aavitsland at the National Institute of Public Health worked 1071 hours of overtime last year. It shows figures Dagbladet has gained access to.
Other FHI tops such as Frode Forland and Line Vold have also worked a lot of overtime, but to a much lesser extent than Aavitsland. Forland led 410 overtime hours in the same period, while Vold led 357 hours.
FHI’s chief shop steward Marc Gayorfar is critical of the fact that some key people have to work far beyond what is justifiable and permissible. Thus, FHI breaks the law, he believes.
– There is a limit of a maximum of 300 hours, while some managers have far more, he says and continues:
– FHI has had to see itself forced to break the law year after year, without the politicians understanding that one must plan better and more long-term in a prolonged pandemic. This is because robust and good preparedness can not exist without it, he says.
Dagbladet has presented Gayofar’s claims to FHI. They do not want to comment on them.
CRITICAL: Marc Gayorfar at FHI. Photo: FHI
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– Can be problematic
The Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority states on a general basis that the main rule is that employees can work up to 200 overtime hours during 52 weeks.
– Upon application, the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority can extend the limit so that an employee can work a total of up to 400 overtime hours. If an employer is bound by a collective agreement with a large trade union, they can usually agree on an extension themselves, says Heidi Mehli, senior adviser in the department for communication and user dialogue at the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority.
The employer is always responsible for ensuring that employees are taken care of and have a fully safe working environment, even during a pandemic, says Mehli.
– It places extra great demands on the employer to ensure that the employees’ working hours are justifiable and safeguard their health and safety and continue:
– If a company breaks the boundaries, it is problematic from a protection perspective. The greater the discrepancy that occurs, the more serious the breach, says Mehli.
– Horrible tall
Dagbladet has previously written that the workload among employees in the professional bodies still is great, about two years after the pandemic started.
– In 2021, 39 employees in FHI have worked over 300 overtime hours. Some have worked as much as 1400 hours, 900 hours, 800 hours, 700 hours and 600 hours of overtime. So it is clear that some employees have quite horrible numbers. Quite a few of those who have worked a lot of overtime in 2021 are regulars from 2020, Gayorfar said.
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– Necessary
Preben Aavitsland says he is happy to contribute and finds the work very meaningful. Beyond that, he has no comment.
– Aavitsland is one of FHI’s employees who have worked far beyond normal working hours as a result of their crisis management, writes assistant director Gunn Peggy Knudsen in an e-mail to Dagbladet.
– Was wanted for coronatest
She says that the superior is part of the management of the department’s outbreak group and of the coronary vaccination program. He is also an important spokesperson.
– He is among the department’s most experienced professionals in infection control and has a unique competence that has been necessary and very valuable to use in dealing with the pandemic, she says.
A dangerous road
– Worried
Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol has previously told Dagbladet that she is concerned about the strain that the health administration has been exposed to for almost 22 months.
On the basis of this, we have begun the work of strengthening our emergency preparedness work, also organizationally. Employees for whom I am now responsible in my ministry and in underlying agencies have worked far more than we can expect, she said.
