Education employment
Since 1990 the Schools Employment team has established a national reputation as advisers to many hundreds of independent schools and other education institutions and charities in the UK, across the whole range of employment-related concerns that arise in an education setting.
This has been achieved by:
Commitment: We have written precedent Contracts of Employment and an Employment Handbook which are recognised by all the main teaching unions.
Sector knowledge: We have gained a full understanding of all the features of an education institute that make it different from a work place in commerce or industry.
Specialist lawyers: Over the years we have built a team of highly qualified employment lawyers who have unrivalled experience of working with schools, colleges, universities and charities.
Practical advice: We are well-known for finding pragmatic solutions backed by intellectual rigour and a high level of technical competence.
Additional support: Our lawyers travel all over the country to meet heads, bursars and human resources managers.
We provide speakers at training seminars and governors' briefings. We also produce regular, free-of-charge legal updates by e-mail; these e-zines have proved very popular.
Safer recruitment
Safer recruitment of staff and volunteers is an essential part of safeguarding responsibilities for all schools. We provide a specialist training programme covering all aspects of the DfES guidance Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education. We also provide a Safer Recruitment Pack which means that schools can put the Guidance into practice straightaway. Find out more...
Sector-specific advice
Governors and trustees, as part of their risk management duty, are required to be satisfied that their legal advisers are competent. But the regulatory burden of the employment and anti-discrimination laws is now so great that we believe competence can only be achieved in this field by specialist lawyers who are immersed in the sector.
The following are some examples of concerns that arise in an education setting but may be outside the experience of employment lawyers working in different sectors:
- The full range of child protection procedures including amendments to the rules for making checks in the Criminal Records Bureau.
- The specialist terminology in academic contracts, the important differences between the calendar year and the academic year, and particular provisions that apply to teaching and house staff.
- The discrete legal and taxation rules that apply to peripatetic staff.
- The interaction between the employment contract and the House contract.
- Correct treatment of the rules on benefits in kind as they apply to teaching and support staff.
- The interaction between Teachers' Pensions, equal pay and claims of unequal treatment.
- Those parts of executive remuneration that are "pensionable" and those that are not.
- The application of the Working Time Regulations to boarding staff, matrons and caretakers.
- Tax implications and particular rules as to tenure and other matters relating to staff accommodation and resident staff.
- Intellectual property rights in original work created by teachers.
- Fee discounts and scholarships for the children of teachers and whether governors have power to make these allowances in the case of a child who is a close relation of a governor. Phased changes to the teacher-discount scheme.
- Correct handling of disputes with an employee who is also the parent of a child at the school.
- Correct handling of allegations of abuse and historical complaints.
- Drafting statements for the press and related letters to parents and others.
Work experience/case studies:
- Advising on TUPE consultation with employees in several school mergers/sales.
- Successful defence of an education institution against a claimant who alleged unequal treatment over pay, trade union membership, sexual orientation and exclusion from Teachers' Pensions (2005).
- Sensitive investigation and handling of accusations against teachers.
Please 
click here to access our Education Employment teamsheet for a full range of services we offer.
