Archived News from 2019

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Education

December

Legal Article

Health and Safety at Work Statistics released by HSE

18/12/19

The Health and Safety Executive ("HSE") has released its annual report summarising statistics for 2018/19 related to work-related illness, deaths in the workplace, injuries at work, and working days lost to work-related illness and injury. The report confirmed that the rate of self-…

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November

Forbes News

Forbes Wins Four-Year Contract To Advise Authorities Across The North East

28/11/19

Forbes Solicitors has won a four-year contract to advise one of the largest groups of local authorities in the country after being named as a successful bidder for the North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO)'s Regional Legal Services Framework. Established in 1976, the NEPO undertakes high-…

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October

Forbes News

Forbes Solicitors Celebrates Legal 500 Successes

02/10/19

Forbes Solicitors is celebrating after being recommended in 15 Legal 500 categories and ranking as a Top Tier Firm, with 35 lawyers listed as recommended. Forbes' category recommendations are up one from last year, with Contentious Trusts and Probate being ranked for the first time. The…

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September

Legal Article

Data Protection Compliance in Education Establishments

26/09/19

After a well-earned summer break no doubt a myriad of issues require addressing by schools and establishments, with data protection compliance being amongst them. Returning back from any break brings about its own unique data protection challenges after a long period of reduced staffing as inevitably…

Legal Article

Education Case Studies

26/09/19

Costs down the drain The Dispute Resolution team at Forbes recently acted for an academy trust which had a vexatious claim issued against it by a neighbour. The neighbour's garden backed onto the school's playing field and he issued a claim for nuisance, alleging that his garden would…

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July

Forbes News

NASUWT Reports Teachers Won £15m in Compensation Claims in 2018

30/07/19

It has been reported by the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) that during 2018 they secured compensation of £14,933,905.34 for its teacher members. The sums were awarded as a result of claims for accidents, attacks by pupils, and employment disputes.…

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April

Legal Article

Court ruling on the interplay between disciplinary and criminal investigations

10/04/19

In North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust v Gregg the Court of Appeal held that an employer was not obliged to postpone a disciplinary hearing pending the outcome of a police investigation into an employee. Dr Gregg was employed as a consultant anaesthetist by the Trust since September 2003. In…

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March

Legal Article

Head Teacher's sexual orientation discrimination claim upheld

28/03/19

The Employment Appeal Tribunal ("EAT") has recently ruled upon whether adverse treatment of a gay Head Teacher can constitute constructive dismissal and sexual orientation discrimination. In Tywyn Primary School v Aplin, the EAT upheld the decision of the Employment Tribunal ("ET")…

Legal Article

The Power of the 'Hypothetical Comparator'

21/03/19

The Employment Appeal Tribunal ("EAT") recently addressed the issue of hypothetical comparators in employment claims in Governing Body of Sutton Oak Church of England Primary School & 2 Others v. Mr M Whittaker. The Respondent was a primary school teacher who was employed at the…

Legal Article

Usage of inaccessible work email accounts during employee's maternity leave

18/03/19

The Employment Appeal Tribunal ("EAT") held in SW Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust v Jackson that it can be unfavourable treatment under the Equality Act 2010 to send a woman on maternity leave an important email at an email address that she can't access. However, it will be…

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February

Legal Article

Scottish Universities move to amend admissions process to address equality

20/02/19

An article by the BBC earlier today reported on the intention of Scottish Universities to lower the entry requirements to students from disadvantaged areas. The intention is not to guarantee those gaining the grades a place, but to take students over the threshold for consideration. For example,…

Legal Article

Employment Appeal Tribunal finding on religious discrimination in nursery case

20/02/19

Ms De Groen had been employed as a teacher by Gan Menachem, an ultra-orthodox Jewish Nursery, since July 2012. She was living with her boyfriend whilst working at the nursery, in contravention of the strict religious requirements of ultra-orthodox Judaism. This information came to light at a barbeque…

Legal Article

Rights to Work themed FAQ's

20/02/19

In schools where the employer is the local authority, if the school wanted to hire someone on a tier 2 visa, would the local authority need a licence to sponsor these visas? Yes, the Local Authority would need to have a tier 2 licence in order to sponsor the visa of the proposed employee. If the…

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January

Legal Article

Head teacher fined for breach of DPA

15/01/19

A former head teacher has been fined for unlawfully obtaining children's personal data from previous schools where he worked. According to the ICO, the head teacher had obtained the information from two primary schools where he had previously been employed, and uploaded it to his then current…

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