Working conditions in England:

LEDs should possess either work schedules or job plans. These are documents that clearly outline your work commitments, as agreed by an employee and their employer.

• LEDs on terms that mirror the 2016 resident doctors’ contract should have access to a work schedule
• LEDs on terms that mirror SAS contracts should have access to a job plan
• LEDs on terms that mirror none of the above contracts should still have access to one or the other  – members can check which by contacting the BMA 

Regardless of the above, anyone legally classed as an employee or worker has the legal right (Employment Rights Act 1996) to a 'written statement of employment particulars'. The employer must provide the principal statement on the first day of employment and the wider written statement within 2 months of the start of employment. If you haven't yet got a contract ask your HR department and contact the BMA for support.

You can use your job plan, work schedule or contract detailing employment particulars to determine if you are working beyond your agreed hours/PAs.

Working your agreed hours/PAs

You are not contractually obliged to work beyond the commitments set out in your work schedule or job plan.

If you wish to complete extra hours/PAs, you should be appropriately compensated for doing so. 

If you’re already a BMA member

Please use the letter template referred to above to contact your employer about receiving the DDRB recommended uplift for 2025/26. The BMA also works with LNC chairs to raise the matter of LED pay uplifts with Trusts across England.

If by autumn you have still not seen a change in your pay slip, or your employer is questioning your eligibility for an uplift, contact the BMA Local Negotiating Committee for your employer to explore how you might tackle the issue together. If you don’t know who your local BMA reps are, contact us and we can put you in touch, and the BMA will help address this. 

If:

• Your contract has no provision for a work schedule or job plan;
• You should have access to a work schedule or job plan but if you are struggling to establish one with your employer; or
• You employer is pressuring you to work beyond what has been agreed

You can again contact our advisors, who will help resolve the issue.

If you are not a member, join your trade union

Being a member of the BMA gives you access to employment advice throughout your career – whether you continue working as an LED or move into another grade.

As your trade union, we

• Understand the challenges facing LEDs and fight locally and nationally for better working conditions, helping LEDs move from temporary to permanent contracts and negotiating better pay deals
• Provide our contract checking service and specialist advisors, who understand the unique working context of LEDs, and can help address issues that arise in your workplace
• Have created a checklist for LEDs, helping to ensure your working arrangements are fit for purpose
• Provide Trust-based LED representatives to fight for your rights locally
• Offer financial and legal guidance, as well as pensions advice
• Understand the desire for career progression and development and, accordingly, provide mentoring and guidance from experienced professionals, as well as access to BMJ learning, where you can learn clinical practice and job planning skills along with hundreds of CPD learning modules covering every aspect of your professional development.

Need help? Contact us

How to find out if you are a Locally Employed Doctor (LED)

LEDs are often employed under various titles, which can include terms such as Trust Grade, FY3, Clinical Fellow, and Trust doctor as well as others. Check your contract or job offer to see what the title of your post is.

If you're not sure whether you are an LED, please contact us and we can advise you.

Your contract of employment

LEDs are not provided with nationally agreed contracts but instead given local variations of such contracts. These terms and conditions can vary significantly from those of their SAS and resident doctor colleagues on national terms and conditions. This can both undermine the working conditions of LEDs, and cause confusion regarding what they are expected to do.

This is why we would strongly recommend that LEDs:

• use our LED checklist to ensure that you can fully consider your options and help verify that your working arrangements are fit for purpose
• obtain a contract of employment from your prospective employer at the earliest opportunity and send it to us for review before you sign it.