Contract terms

Case 5: The facts

Dr Qasim, a specialist registrar, was appointed on a one-year contract. When his employment ended, he brought a claim for breach of contract, on the grounds that his employer had not paid him the long-hours supplement payable to doctors employed in his pay band.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal held that, although the employer had initially suggested that the post was at a lower band, Qasim had rejected that; it was clear that he had accepted the post on the basis that it was in the band that attracted the supplement.

The fact that the remuneration was not specified did not prevent there being a legally binding contract, since the pay was set out in a national agreement. The terms of a contract are interpreted objectively, and it is not open to a party to later say that the terms do not reflect what was really meant.

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust v Qasim UKEAT/0793/04