Employment
Law report: unlawful deduction of wages claim, Ashford Employment Tribunal
Here is a report of a recent employment tribunal, by Hywel Griffiths and Georgina Cowens
The claimant, a part-time French teacher at the respondent school, brought a claim that the respondent had made an unlawful deduction of her wages by failing to pay her correctly when her working hours increased.
Know your limits
Ask any Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) member working in the independent sector what their biggest current concern is and they will invariably reply “workload”. John Richardson reports
The Working Time Regulations came into force in 1998 to provide statutory regulation of working hours in the UK. The regulations cover England, Scotland and Wales, while similar regulations apply in Northern Ireland. The ATL survey of pay and conditions in October 2009 revealed that, during term time, 64 per cent of teachers work more than the maximum 48 hours per week recommended by the EU.
On the go
Financial pressures might mean that some independent schools are making job cuts to balance the books. John Richardson suggests, however, that there may be ways for schools to avoid compulsory redundancies
As the largest trade union and professional association in the independent sector (with 20,000 teaching and support staff members), the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) is seeing the impact of the recession at first hand. We have members in approximately 1,700 independent schools – a greater coverage than, say, the ISC.
Acts of god
Religion in schools is significant in two ways: where the school itself has a religious character and the religion or belief of the staff. Brian Palmer reviews the governing regulations and assesses some recent tribunal decisions
Non-teaching staff at independent schools with a religious character and teaching and non-teaching staff at secular independent schools will be subject to legislation, which prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the grounds of a person’s religion or belief. There are special rules for independent schools with a religious character that are beyond the scope of this article.
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People watching
Joanna Green expands on the implications of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and the Independent Safeguarding Authority’s vetting and barring scheme
The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 creates a new vetting and barring scheme which is now in force. The intention is to consolidate all known information on the fitness of any individual to work in any role that involves contact with children and vulnerable adults and to make the result of that information easily accessible to employers who are hoping to recruit to such roles. At its core, the new scheme brings existing information under POCA, POVA and List 99 under a single administration.
Teacher’s threat
Allegations made against teachers are every school’s greatest fear. It is essential that they are handled correctly, and that any disciplinary action taken against a teacher complies with employment law, writes Brian Palmer
Statutory disciplinary and grievance procedures were introduced in 2004 to simplify aspects of employment
law and to lessen the burden on tribunals. Unfortunately, the procedures have caused confusion and have provoked
satellite litigation about their compliance.
A job’s worth
Recent cases have clarified some of the issues affecting part-time workers and employment status in general within education, with ramifications for the independent schools sector, writes Katy Wedderburn
By law, part-time workers must be treated in the same way as comparable full-time workers. A comparable full-time worker is one who works for the same employer and does similar work under the same type of contract. Part-time workers have the same rights and benefits – in proportion to the hours they work – as comparable full-time staff, unless the difference can be justified on objective grounds.
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Work to rules
The Government is addressing equality in the workplace: flexible working and the Equalities Bill; changes to sex discrimination legislation and to maternity regulations. Brian Palmer assesses the impact on schools
The highly publicised review into flexible working has resulted in a recommendation that the current statutory framework is extended to parents of children up to the age of 16. The Government is now consulting on how to implement this recommendation. Flexible working can take many forms, including part-time working or job-share.
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