petherbridge bassra employment law for schools

Employment Lawfor Schools

Specialist EmploymentAdvice for Education

PetherbridgeYour Local SolicitorsBassra

We’re on your side…

Our Employment Law Sevices 3

Contracts of Employment 5

Employment Handbook 5

Job Description 5

Employment Disputes 6

In-house training 6

Discipline/Dismissal 8

Policies and Procedures 8

New Legislation 8

Litigation 10


Petherbridge Bassra is a Bradford firm helping clients with cases close to home, nationally

and internationally. These pages will tell you what we do and how we do it and naturally we

will highlight what we consider to be our virtues. But beyond that, the staff of Petherbridge

Bassra take pride in their work and care about their clients’ cases and the reputation of the

firm. As a result, others know to take this firm seriously and more importantly to consider

your case seriously, because they know- we mean business.

You have our assurance that we will give you the best that we can give and treat you openly

and with respect and compassion.

Lawyers can be human too.

We are in it together.

Alan Petherbridge

We understand how stressful and time consuming it

can be to deal with difficult personnel issues and

balance your time so that you can focus on providing

high quality education for your pupils.

Our philosophy is that for a school to be outstanding,

the people providing support services to that school

must also be exceptional.

We work alongside local educational establishments

with a supportive and personal approach; providing

efficient and cost effective legal advice in relation to

employment issues.

Within educational establishments, the most common

employment issues involve under-performance and

long-term sickness absences. It is important that these

issues are tackled fairly but efficiently as soon as they

arise. We fully support head teachers so that the best

outcomes can be delivered for their school.

For a yearly subscription, we provide an employment

advisory service whereby you will have access to

specialist legal advice in relation to employment

related issues at the end of the phone, when you

require it.

This service includes guidance on how to deal with issues

such as:

• Absenteeism management• Changing terms and conditions of employment• Disciplinaries and Grievances• Staff Allegations• Redundancies and Restructuring• Terminating fixed term contracts• Compromise agreements• Performance Management and Capability issues• The Equality Act 2010 and Discrimination• Stress, Harassment and Bullying• Maternity and Paternity Leave

In addition to our employment advisory service, we also

provide fixed-fee employment services; including

drafting bespoke contracts of employment, handbooks

and social media policies, tailored to ensure that they suit

your establishment and your aims but are also compliant

with current employment legislation.

In the unfortunate event that you are currently defending

a claim in the employment tribunal, we can represent you

and ensure that the best solution can be achieved at the

lowest cost for you. As already established employment

advisers within the community, we are able to obtain

good quality Barristers at competitive prices.

If you wish to hear more about our specialist employment services for educational establishments, please donot hesitate to contact us on 01274 724 114 and speak to a member of our employment team. Alternatively, youcan email us now at [email protected]

Our Employment Law Services:

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We will provide you with advice and assistance

drawing up contracts of employment for all your

employees, ensuring that they comply with the Law

thereby minimising any problems arising from the

contract itself.

We can also check existing contracts to ensure

compliance with current legislation. A badly drafted

contract can cause many problems on its own, causing

disputes to arise where there would otherwise have

been no issue.

Contracts ofEmployment

The contract of employment sets out and governs the relationship

between an employer and an employee. The existence of an

employment contract is essential to provide clarity so that both the

employer and the employee know their respective rights and obligations.

A full and detailed handbook for staff is a key

management tool and is one of the first documents

that is given to a new employee. As a result, it not only

needs to reflect the culture and values of the

organisation, but should project a professional

impression of the school as a whole.

Without a clear staff handbook, schools may fail to

follow their legal obligations and may also find that

custom and practice is established that is different to

the employer’s intention. This can lead to disputes with

employees and can be both costly and time

consuming. We ensure the handbook is drafted in

such a way to allow additional information to be

included to suit your school where required (for

example, Equal Opportunities and Internet and Email

use), but keeping it as simple as possible for your

organisation, allowing you to focus on a clear and

concise set of policies.

Employment Handbook

Preparing a job description is not a legal requirement

but it can be useful for deciding the scope of the work,

advertising the job and clarifying what applicants will

have to do in the job. It can also help to assess a new

recruit’s performance and determine training needs.

Job Description


It is important that schools have personnel who can

confidently carry out employment procedures to

enable you to have a motivated and engaged team

behind you.

We provide bespoke in-house training on how to deal

with specific employment related issues, new

employment legislation and best practice.

In-House Training

It has long been acknowledged that disputes in the

workplace are disruptive, stressful and costly - both for

employers and employees. Once time and legal

expenses are taken into account, the average cost of

an employment tribunal case for a UK school is

£8,500.

By acting on our advice, we can help you to avoid the

necessity for a tribunal and minimise costs and

disruption to your school.

EmploymentDisputes

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By acting on our advice, we can help you to avoid

the necessity for a tribunal and minimise costs and

disruption to your time.

The procedure adopted when disciplining employees

depends on the reason for taking such action. We will

ensure that by using the correct procedure, the matter

will be resolved effectively and quickly therefore

avoiding claims.

Has your school got the right policies and

procedures it needs? Our advice could save you a lot

of problems later.

Discipline/DismissalAs new legislation is passed, we will ensure that you

are kept up to date by providing you with regular

newsletters and ‘emergency bulletins’. These are

produced in an easy to understand format so that

you remain well informed throughout your

contract with us.

New Legislation

Policies and Procedures

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We litigate, mediate and negotiate in order to obtain

the best commercial result for your school.

We act on your behalf in defending a claim in the

Employment Tribunal to relieve what can be a stressful

process.

We will guide you through the tribunal procedure and

draft responses to claims, draft witness statements,

provide representation for case management

discussions, pre-hearing reviews and final hearings,

prepare disclosure of documents, prepare trial

bundles and actively seek to negotiate the best

possible outcome from the receipt of a claim to the fi

nal hearing.

If you require representation and legal services in

respect of a claim in the Employment Tribunal, please

do not hesitate to contact us for a consultation.

If you want to take advantage of our employment

advice service, helping your business and providing a

supportive, rounded approach, please do not hesitate

to contact us.

Litigation: Dealing with claimsin the Employment Tribunal

In the event that you are subject to a claim from an

employee in the Employment Tribunal, we provide a

proactive and supportive legal service to defend

such a claim.

Vintry House, 18-24 Piccadilly, Bradford, BD1 3LS

Tel: 01274 724114 Fax: 01274 724161

[email protected]

www.petherbridgebassra.com

Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority: REGIS ID 613817

Call us now…01274 724 114

Email us now…[email protected]

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