Junior doctors' pay

Case 1: The facts

Dr Whitehouse was a junior doctor on “rotation”, working in a range of training posts to gain experience in different medical fields. Each post had a salary uplift to reflect the hours or intensity involved in that type of work. If a post was “rebanded” before a doctor took it up but after s/he had been allocated to it, his/her pay was protected at the original banding.

Whitehouse was placed in a post which attracted an 80% salary uplift. By the time he took up the post, the uplift had been rebanded to 50% – but by this stage he had risen to a higher point on the salary scale.

Whitehouse argued that the uplift should be applied at the higher point, but his employer said it should be applied to the point he was on at the time the post was rebanded.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld Whitehouse’s claim. It said it was clear from his contract, which said that his salary would be increased to take account of increments in the base salary, that the uplift applied to his current salary.

Whitehouse v North Bristol NHS Trust UKEAT/0133/06