I'm an assistant doctor in a German hospital in my second year to become a pediatrician. At the moment I am working on the pediatric ICU. We are working in 3--shifts Monday to Thursday and in 2-shifts Friday to Sunday.
Just to fill you guys in a little: In every shift is one assistant doctor at the ICU. Monday to Friday from 8-16:30pm we also have one or two attending physicians in the ICU.
We are pretty understaffed, for moths now - not because there is no possible employees but because the Vorstand (think of it as the Hospitals CEO) isn't willing to pay for sufficient amount of staff.
In case of a sickness of one member of staff it is common practice to call all other employees (that are not working on those days) to ask if they can help out. There is no compensation if you actually do so. Since we're heavily understaffed for about a year now, the willingness to help out is at a low point. In result the Chief physician started to order people to work even if they do not agree to help. You can refuse this order but if you do you have to face work-related legal consequences and would have to defend your case in a court. While you're likely to win (because the cases where even a Chief physician is allowed to order you to work once you have your shift-plan are very narrow) this is likely expensive and stressful, so at least at our hospital no one tried to refuse an direct order yet. I was ordered to work this way twice last year, in the last instance on December, 26th.
As a result I decided not to pick up my phone anymore if the hospital is calling. You are not legally obligated to take any calls or messages from your employer in your off time in Germany. If the employer is not able to reach you, he can not order you to work. It's the only way to protect your free time.
I tried to convince the other doctors to do the same. This was also the legal advice of the union's lawyer. Sadly my colleagues are very hesitant to provoke any kind of conflict. They complain about the situation a lot, but they are not likely to act to force a change. Especially non-ICU doctors with work duty while a sick note comes in are likely to be ordered to take over the shifts face to face which makes it especially hard to refuse.
So today the person that would have worked 12-hour night-shifts from Friday to Sunday called in sick. The Hospital tried to call me several times - I did not pick up. The Chief physician than sent me a Voice message via Whatsapp (It is VERY uncommon to get contacted via social media from you Employer) which I did not listen to.
I don't know what happened after this. Someone will probably work those shifts. I am very sure that hell will break over me next week. The usual approach of the employer is a reversal of guilt, blaming me that others had to work in my place, telling me all the trouble is my fault while completely ignoring the fact that the employer is obligated to prepare for a typical amount of sick notes bei either installing on-call duties or a reserve pool (needs more staff) or paying for on-demand honorary staff (even more expensive that more staff). It's also possible that I will be threatened with legal actions.
I am sure that I am doing the right thing - legally and also to change the unbelievable toxic working environment in my hospital. But damn, I'm nervous as fuck.
Tell me about your own experiences. Were you able to change things?
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