Sector

Employment and Education Law

We are still available and booking appointments over telephone and video conference

Our Employment team has extensive experience of acting on behalf of education establishments on both contentious and non-contentious issues.

HR and Employment support and advice is a vital part of the good governance and management of any school or college. Employees are the greatest asset of any school or college, and quality advice in this complex area is essential to success, and to the wellbeing and development of pupils, students and employees.

Services offered include:

In-person, telephone and email support and advice for HR and employment law issues including:

- Sickness absence management;
- Appraisals and performance management;
- Disciplinary and dismissal;
- Grievance issues including bullying and harassment complaints;
- Terms and conditions of employment;
- Contracts of employment and variation;
- Flexible working and family friendly rights;
- Recruitment;
- Pay and equal pay;
- Discrimination;
- Equality and Diversity.

Attendance and real-time advice at formal hearings;
Advice and support on trade union relations including disputes and strike action;
Drafting and negotiating settlement agreements;
Policy and procedure audits and drafting of bespoke policies;
Drafting of bespoke letters and scripts for internal processes;
End to end support with restructures and programmes of redundancies;
Support on all aspects of TUPE transfers;
Support with job evaluation processes;
Crisis management support - for example, in relation to complex safeguarding matters
and issues involving the polices and/or criminal conduct;
Training sessions and webinars;
Regular updates on changes to the law, including tailored advice on how this will impact
on Schools.

Recent Experience Includes:

Ongoing retained advice for a number of educational organisations, including multi-academy trusts, maintained schools, stand-alone academies, independent schools and further education colleges;
Appearing on behalf of a governing body in the leading case on the calculation of pension loss under the Teachers' Pension Scheme;
Advising on and implementing local collective agreements and departures from NJCC in the field of trade union relations;
Advising regularly on harmonising pay structures and terms and conditions, together with job evaluation;
Regularly advising and assisting in the negotiation of Settlement Agreements including dealing with the dismissal of head teachers and other senior staff;
Regularly advising on internal staffing issues;
Dealing with many Tribunal cases involving sensitive Child Protection issues;
Representing management at internal appeals against dismissal;
Reviewing and drafting a wide range of schools policies and contracts of employment;
Advising upon the implications of TUPE following academy conversion and pre-transfer in relation to taking over an after school club;
Representing a school and head teacher in a Tribunal claim for race discrimination;
Advising upon a flexible working application and potential disability discrimination claim;
Investigating a complaint against a teacher involving inappropriate relationships with pupils;
Advising on the avoidance of Strike action.