18/12/20
On 17 December 2020, the Government confirmed that all secondary schools and colleges in England will be able to test more of their staff and students, from the first week in January 2021. We understand that testing will be optional and will require student/ parent consent, however, it is strongly…
11/12/20
Tackle performance issues without delay Failing to address poor performance in accordance with the school's policy means that it becomes harder to substantiate a genuine concern at a later date. In addition, the employee may feel aggrieved and left wondering why the issue was not raised sooner…
11/12/20
As school's approach the end of the first term back, it is undoubtedly the case that the last 9 months have presented the most challenging circumstances for school leaders and staff; including the need to close at short notice in whole or in part, manage staff absences, re-order classrooms,…
11/12/20
What are the restrictions this festive period and how might we a manage staff conduct during this time? With the Christmas period looming, employers in the education sector should now have a mind to the ongoing restrictions coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic restrictions. With Christmas comes…
11/12/20
2020 has been a really tough year for everyone and nowhere can that said to be truer than in the education world. Faced with unprecedented challenges of closing schools and colleges almost completely (except for vulnerable and key worker pupils and students) for a number of months; re-opening and making…
11/12/20
The Employment Tribunal has recently rapped the knuckles of Jaguar Land Rover regarding the treatment of a non-binary or 'gender fluid' member of staff, highlighting an important development in discrimination law. In Taylor v Jaguar Land Rover the employee was employed as an engineer for the…
11/12/20
On 4 December 2020, a judgment was handed down from the High Court ordering a local authority to engage in mediation with the mother of a child in their care after a dispute arose over the mother seeking accompaniment by a lawyer for the mediation process. Though this case does not relate to an…
27/11/20
The cancellation of this year's GCSE and A-level exams gave Ofqual an unprecedented challenge in determining how grades should be awarded whilst providing the fairest means of enabling students to move on to further studies or employment. This unprecedented decision by Ofqual meant that…
27/11/20
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced, in what many may see as a brave move given the current stresses on the public sector, that there will be a pay freeze on public sector workers. An expenditure review has been conducted resulting in a pay freeze for civil servants, teachers, police, firefighters,…
27/11/20
On Thursday, 19 June 2020 our Employment team delivered a Mock Tribunal covering a dismissal involving a complex number of issues including health and safety issues. To give a brief overview, the Claimant in our scenario worked from home for the majority of the initial lockdown period beginning in March…
27/11/20
In the past week, media outlets have been reporting that almost two thirds of secondary school children had been self-isolating, up a significant increase from the week before. Similarly, it is estimated that the number of primary school children needing to self-isolate has doubled in the past week.…
26/11/20
A Multi Academy Trust (Focus Trust) announced last week that 15 schools, based in the north west of England and West Yorkshire, would shut on 11 December for the Christmas holidays, due to COVID-19 implications. This announcement was not well received by the government, who refused to allow the…
12/11/20
Case Update The Board of Governors of IQRA Community Primary School (Respondent) Ms F Mansur (Claimant) Background The Claimant was a Teaching Assistant at the school. The Claimant's initial claim was one of direct discrimination on grounds of sex and race, and unfair dismissal…
05/11/20
Schools will remain open for the second period of national lockdown. The Government has produced guidance on how the new restrictions impact schools. The main changes include rules on face coverings and clinically extremely vulnerable children and staff. The deadline for introducing the changes is…
30/10/20
Despite the wider reopening of schools in England from September 2020, Coronavirus continues to have a lasting impact on the ability to provide continuous staffing in schools, particularly where infection rates continue to be high. Many schools have continued to pay their teaching staff in the…
28/10/20
Dealing with the outbreak of Covid-19 has caused significant headaches for all schools over the past few months. Schools have overcome considerable difficulties that could never have been prepared for and whilst there are challenges ahead for schools some of these challenges can at least be predicted…
28/10/20
On 7 October 2020, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) published the outcome of a compulsory audit of the Department for Education (DfE) earlier in the year. The audit found that data protection was not being prioritised and this affected the DfE's ability to comply with the GDPR and…
28/10/20
The Department for Education's changes to the Statutory Guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education came into force on 1 September 2020. A number of changes have been made, but the key changes relate to supply staff, online safety and mental health. The ongoing situation regarding Coronavirus has…
28/10/20
On 1 October 2020, the Government updated its guidance on 'Education and Childcare during Coronavirus,' to include a duty on schools to provide a remote education provision for pupils who need to remain at home for reasons relating to Coronavirus and are of compulsory school age or under that…
16/10/20
On 14 October 2020, Parliament approved 'The Restriction of Public Sector Exit Payments Regulations 2020,' (the Regulations) in a long-anticipated move to restrict the amount public sector employers can pay their employees on termination of employment. The Regulations are intended to come in to…
15/10/20
The Education Team at Forbes Solicitors are pleased to launch a programme of live online training specifically for the Education Sector. We understand the added pressures the sector is facing on top of the need to keep at the forefront and up to date with training at a time when there is less…
14/10/20
The guidance document 'Occupational Health advice for employers and pregnant woman during the COVID-19 pandemic' has been archived. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (FOM) had produced…
05/10/20
On 1 October 2020, the Government updated its guidance on 'Education and Childcare during Coronavirus,' to include a duty on schools to provide a remote education provision for pupils who need remain at home for reasons relating to Coronavirus, who are of compulsory school age or under that age…
30/09/20
As many schools have now commenced a period of wider re-opening, following the COVID-19 lockdown and summer break, questions still remain regarding more vulnerable members of staff and whether they should be attending school, where they may be required to mix with hundreds of people on a daily basis…
25/09/20
The NHS COVID-19 app ('the app') has been released and the UK Government has produced corresponding guidance for leaders and staff in schools and further education colleges in England. The app aims to complement the NHS Test and Trace in England by automating some aspects of the process of…
23/09/20
Forbes Solicitors Education specialists hosted an online discussion and were joined by panellists Chris Malings from Malings Change Associates, Paul Atkinson - Director of Finance and Business, Vicki Hayward - SBM and Noel Conreen - Business and Finance Manager. It is more important now than ever…
23/09/20
On 2 September 2020, the ICO's Age Appropriate Design Code (known as the Children's Code) came into force. The Children's Code sets out 15 standards that online services should meet to protect children's privacy whilst online. The Children's Code is a statutory code of conduct…
23/09/20
A Primary School was recently forced to close all but one year group as a result of the infection of a number of staff with Covid-19 following an out of school social event. Members of staff attending the event contracted Covid-19, and the infection spread to other members of staff who did not attend…
03/09/20
Summary of Facts in the case of K v L The Claimant in this case was a Teacher. He was accused by the police of being in possession of indecent images, which it appeared were downloaded to an IP address associated with the Claimant. The Claimant denied the allegations. Upon review of the evidence…
24/08/20
Below are a number of interesting and recent case law updates, on the issue of unfair dismissal, disability discrimination and equal pay, which you may find relevant to your organisation. Unfair dismissal 23 July 2020: Evans v London Borough of Brent UKEAT/0290/19 Update: The…
04/08/20
As most public sector organisations will be aware, the Government has been considering a cap on public sector exit payments of £95,000 since 2015. In April 2019, the government launched a further consultation on draft Regulations to introduce the cap and the consultation closed on 3 July 2019. The…
08/07/20
Following the announcement that the government has cancelled this summer's exams due to the coronavirus pandemic, the exam regulator, Ofqual has confirmed that it will award GCSE and A-Level grades by a combination of teacher assessment, class ranking and the past performance of the school.…
06/07/20
Background Despite the ongoing upheaval that has been caused by Covid-19 and in particular the upheaval that this has caused for schools there are some things which continue on as normal. At Forbes Solicitors we are experienced in navigating the academy conversion or rebrokerage process and…
06/07/20
On 8 June 2020, the rules on travel changed, bringing in the obligation on individuals to provide details of their journey to the UK, contact details and where they will be staying. In addition, individuals travelling/ returning to the UK will be expected to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival. This…
06/07/20
Guidance was issued on 2 July 2020 for a full reopening of schools, special schools and settings; early years and childcare providers; re-opening of Higher Education buildings and the Further Education sector. The guidance is quite detailed and varies slightly between settings. For most it will be…
02/07/20
As you may be aware, a new handbook was released last week to be effective from 1 September 2020. Academy trusts must comply with this handbook as a condition of their funding agreements. The thought behind it is that managing your resources well will help you be accountable and enable you to get…
24/06/20
On 8 June 2020, the rules on travel changed, bringing in the obligation on individuals to provide details of their journey to the UK, contact details and where they will be staying. In addition, individuals travelling/ returning to the UK will be expected to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival. This…
10/06/20
Following the restrictions put in place by the government in an attempt to restrict the spread of Covid-19, many higher education institutions face funding difficulties due to the potential for many students to defer starting courses until the pandemic has passed. Many universities considered making…
10/06/20
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was announced shortly after the government put restrictions in place in an attempt to contain spread of the virus. The scheme, aimed at preventing as many job loses as possible, allowing businesses to weather the storm with the least amount of damage as possible…
08/06/20
On 24 May 2020, the Prime Minister announced the reopening of secondary schools from 15 June 2020 to year 10 and year 12 pupils and to plan on this basis. Yesterday evening, the Department for Education (DfE) published updated guidance and outlined expectations for mainstream and alternative…
22/05/20
Every sector and business is faced with finding out what the new normal looks like and we are here to assist those in the Education sector through that process. To achieve this and help best protect yourselves, colleagues, pupils and everyone's families, we have developed a briefcase of useful…
19/05/20
An employee can be considered dismissed if they have resigned, with or without notice, in circumstances in which they are entitled to terminate their contract of employment without notice by reason of the employer's conduct. Under the well-established "last straw" doctrine, an…
18/05/20
The ICO has published 'Workplace Testing - Guidance for Employers' in order to assist employers considering introducing workplace testing in a bid to make workplaces safe in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The starting point is that as long as there is a good reason for doing so,…
11/05/20
Further to the article on the possible phased return of schools published in our e-newsletter, which you will have received last week, the following sets out the key developments to be aware of( https://www.forbessolicitors.co.uk/news/46969/27/preparing-for-the-return-of-staff-postlockdown ).…
06/05/20
The country has been enduring with a period of lockdown since the Prime Minister's announcement back on 23 March 2020 and now, a number weeks later the conversation in the media, government and amongst businesses and schools is turning towards a possible easing of restrictions and movement towards…
05/05/20
Last week, the High Court published a judgment where a school that sent a letter to parents regarding the disruptive behavioural issues of a disabled pupil, designed to reassure them that staff were able to deal with the behaviour appropriately, was liable for breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998,…
22/04/20
Following the announcement that the government has cancelled this summer's exams due to the coronavirus pandemic, the exam regulator, Ofqual, has launched a consultation on proposals to award pupils with a calculated grade. Ofqual proposes to award GCSE and A-Level grades by a combination of teacher…
06/04/20
The Department for Education ("DfE") has published updated safeguarding guidance for schools, colleges and other education providers in light of the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The guidance is applicable to all schools, academies, independent schools, maintained nursery…
31/03/20
During these difficult times connecting with one another is so important for our well-being. Solicitor, Josh Burke, will appear on the first in a series of interactive webinars hosted by Edapt to help support those in the education sector through this difficult period. The webinars are to help…
26/03/20
COVID-19 is resulting in difficult times for apprentices, employers and providers of apprenticeship training, creating unprecedented and unique challenges to the usual quality and delivery of apprenticeships. The government is continuing to provide support and assistance, seeing the Education and Skills…
25/03/20
The coronavirus outbreak has produced a lot of government action targeted at keeping infections down and that has in turn affected a lot of organisations, their contracts with each other and their plans for future procurement. For buyers subject to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR) or the…
