In addition to your salary and lump sum, your other benefits are a part of your total compensation package. There are benefits that require some action from you before you will get paid.

Please note:

• Work with your program to get paid for each holiday you work.  A holiday begins at 12:00 am and concludes at 11:59 pm - a 24-hour period.  If you work any part of that day, you are entitled to holiday pay.  Each program has a specific process.  It could be as simple as an email to your program coordinator or more recently, a Med Hub form.
  • You are required to notify your program within 60 days of the holiday worked.
  • You must log your MedHub hours for the specific Holiday you worked, to ensure you receive your Holiday Pay.
• Work with your program to make any two (2) holiday pay substitutions are honored.
  • If your birthday falls on a Sunday that you are off, submit a request to switch it to another day that you do work, at least 60 days prior to your birthday.
  • Requests for other substitutions must be made 30 days before the holiday you are substituting, or 30 days before the day you substituting it for, whichever is sooner.
• Make sure you fill out the Cell Phone Stipend Form
• Claim your Step-3 Reimbursement
• Monitor your Meal Allowance
  • Be sure to understand how your program loads meal money onto your M-Card. Some programs load your money at the beginning of the month based on your schedule, which is the intent of an allowance, but in some instances, you may be required to notify your Program Administrator when you work a qualifying shift.
  • The rules on which shifts qualify and other information regarding meal allowances can be found in Article XVI Section A of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Where does the money come from?

Graduate Medical Education (GME) controls the funds related to your appointment as a house officer.  Holiday pay, meal allowances, cell phone stipends, wages, and lump sums are all bargained for in your collective bargaining agreement. These funds are controlled by GME. These are not departmental funds and you leave money in GME's "account" if you don't take advantage of every item the HOA has bargained for.

When the CBA states "departmental approval", these are expenditures that come out of departmental funds. When you attend a conference or other professional development experience, those expenses are reimbursed through your department. Travel reimbursement, including mileage when traveling more than 15 miles round trip from University Hospital, is a departmental reimbursement.

You are not being greedy if your birthday falls on a Sunday and you substitute that day for another day that you are working. Every house officer should get holiday pay for their birthday, regardless of when it falls!