The workers’ representative structure of the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) finds it necessary to inform all employees about the situation regarding the annual limit on overtime hours and the exception request sent by the Board of Directors to the oversight authority last Friday, which was acknowledged on Saturday.
“Over the past few months, the Workers’ Commission [WC] consistently alerted the Board of Directors to the need to prevent the interruption of essential INEM services due to the exhaustion of the annual overtime hours limit, particularly in areas like the Information Systems and Technology Office [GSTI], the Psychological Support and Crisis Intervention Center [CAPIC], and the Logistics Group [GL],” the WC states in a release.
The Workers’ Commission noted that during a meeting on October 1, the Board of Directors informed them that it had not submitted any request to exceed the legal overtime limit for professionals in these areas and had no intention of doing so.
“The seriousness of this stance led the Workers’ Commission to issue an internal bulletin and inform the oversight authority about the situation, highlighting the direct impact on the continuity of INEM’s critical services,” it states, emphasizing that “the facts now demonstrate” that the workers’ concern “was substantiated.”
According to the INEM Workers’ Commission, the board of directors formally submitted a request last Friday to the oversight authority for authorization to surpass the annual overtime limit, “thus confirming the need that this Commission had been signaling early on.”
However, they highlight that this request was formalized after the public intervention of the Workers’ Commission and after the alert to the oversight authority about “the imminent risk of operational disruption.”
“In the request sent to the oversight authority, the Board of Directors sought authorization for the period from September to December 2025, excluding the month of August, including an alert that the institute is “unable to compensate workers who, during August, exceeded the annual limit (…),” it points out.
The WC observes that “it was precisely in August” that several INEM services remained operational thanks to the extra efforts of professionals, who provided overtime hours already worked, now realizing there was no guarantee of payment.
In their view, “this omission demands urgent clarification.”
For the WC, it is a priority to ensure the regularization of the overtime hours performed in August and subsequently and to maintain “total transparency regarding the criteria applied in the request sent to the oversight authority.”
They further emphasize the necessity to ensure “the protection of the continuity of essential INEM services” and to provide “clear and accurate information to workers on this matter.”
The Workers’ Commission states it will continue to monitor this process “with determination and a sense of responsibility, keeping workers informed and acting with relevant entities whenever necessary.”
