Rota Compliance Check

Why your rota is worth checking

“Getting the basics right for resident doctors” was a programme launched by NHS England last year. It told every trust to cut rotation payroll errors by 90% by March 2026. By April 2026 they were down 51.5%, so they’d roughly halved them, which isn’t the same as fixing them. But that’s how low the bar is.

Your rota is often late, wrong, sometimes illegal and you then get paid wrong. Don’t get me started on the payroll errors. So if it’s wrong, two things go wrong at once and neither of them tells you: you’re working a pattern your contract doesn’t allow, and you’re being paid for a pattern you never worked. Both of those just keep repeating every month, and nobody at your trust is sat there checking it for you.

Here’s the bit most people don’t know: your trust can actually be fined for a lot of this. Going over the 48-hour average, over 72 hours in any 168, a shift past 13 hours, not getting 11 hours of continuous rest in 24, or missing your breaks on a quarter of occasions or more across 4 weeks, they all carry one. But only if somebody notices. None of the rules are complicated either, they’re sat in Schedule 3 of your own contract, they’re just boring enough that checking them against a calendar costs you an evening you haven’t got. That’s why I built this.

The questions I get asked most

How do I know if my rota is even legal?: Start with the hours. You can't be rostered to average more than 48 hours a week across the cycle, you can't be given more than 72 hours of work in any 168, and no single shift can go over 13 hours. Then the rest: at least 11 hours between rostered shifts, and no more than 4 nights in a row. The catch is that most of these are averages and totals across the whole pattern, not week by week, which is exactly why a rota can look completely reasonable and still be in breach.
Can they make me work 1 in 2 weekends?: 1 in 2 is the ceiling, but they're supposed to be aiming for 1 in 3. Anything more than 1 in 3 needs a clinical justification that's signed off and shared with the doctors on that rota. If you've never been shown one, ask for it.
I'm less than full time. Is any of this different?: Yes, and this is where I see the most mistakes. Your work schedule is capped at 40 hours a week, not 48. There's also a known history of less than full time hours being miscounted in the eRota system, enough that the BMA has its own guidance on getting those corrections made. If you're LTFT, check the hours on your work schedule against the rota you actually got before you check anything else.
When should I actually have my rota by?: Work schedule at least 8 weeks before you start, detailed rota no later than 6 weeks before. That's what trusts were told to do under NHS England's 10 point plan, and it's also a contractual requirement, so a rota landing a fortnight beforehand isn't just bad luck.
My rota looks fine but my pay doesn't match. What now?: They're two different documents and they disagree more than they should. Your rota is the pattern you were given. Your work schedule is what your employer says that pattern is worth. Your payslip is what they actually paid you. If the middle one's wrong you'll never see it unless you line all three up, and it'll keep repeating every month until you do.
What happens if my rota isn't compliant?: It goes back to be redesigned. A breach is your employer's problem to fix, not yours to absorb, and the guardian of safe working hours is there for exactly this. You don't have to agree a work schedule you're not happy with, and you can ask for a work schedule review whenever you want.

Every contract figure above is from the 2016 TCS, version 14, June 2026, last read on 7 September 2026.