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When You Don’t  Have to Comply with a DSAR or FOI Request DSARs and FOI requests rarely land at a convenient moment. They tend to arrive in the middle of restructures, live grievances, safeguarding concerns or threatened litigation. For MATs, schools and nurseries, the instinct is often: “We have to give them everything… don’t we?” Not always. The law expects education providers to be transparent and accountable , but it also recognises that there are times when you must prot

A CEO was dismissed for capability. The employer skipped the basics: no formal investigation, no written concerns, no meeting, no appeal. The tribunal found the dismissal unfair . On compensation, the Employment Appeal Tribunal said the judge hadn’t properly explained when  a fair dismissal would likely have happened if the process had been done right so that bit goes back to be re-decided. What this means for education HR Boards set strategy; HR runs fair process.  Don’t let

A brand-new Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) judgment is a timely reminder for schools and MATs: one overlooked email can unravel an entire case built on “credibility”. In Mayanja v City of Bradford MDC , the EAT set aside both liability and costs decisions and remitted all claims  to a differently constituted tribunal after a post-hearing email surfaced stating, “we’d like to offer you the job.” The case in a nutshell The claimant alleged he’d been offered a council role; th

Parents deserve to be heard and schools deserve a clear, lawful way to handle complaints without derailing teaching and safeguarding. Here’s a practical approach you can lift straight into practice. 1) Triage first: is it a complaint or something else? Before you investigate, route it correctly: Safeguarding/allegations about staff:  go straight to KCSIE Part 4  processes, not the general complaints route. Admissions, exclusions, SEND, appeals:  use the relevant statutory rou

When an allegation involves a child, you must protect the child and  run a fair employment process. Do this by classifying early and running two coordinated tracks — Safeguarding  and Employment rather than a single blurred process. Legal baseline KCSIE Part 4:  Apply the harms-threshold test. If met, contact the LADO promptly in line with local procedures  and follow their directions. Manage low-level concerns  under your policy. Employment fairness:  Follow the ACAS Code  

Settlement agreements can be a legitimate, value-for-money tool for resolving employment disputes provided trusts follow the Academy Trust Handbook (ATH)  and the Department for Education’s approvals regime to the letter. This 2025 update highlights when a settlement is worth considering, and the governance steps that keep boards, accounting officers and CFOs on the right side of public-money controls. The right use-cases Consider a settlement agreement when: Litigation risk

The EAT has reminded us that the ET won’t always strike out a claim just because the claimant didn’t get EC right - especially where the Tribunal itself accepted the claim and let the case progress. That’s the headline from Abel Estate Agent Ltd & Others v Elizabeth Reynolds [2025] EAT 6 . What actually happened? The claimant brought a whistleblowing dismissal claim and a detriment claim under s.48 ERA 1996 . She hadn’t done ACAS EC for one limb  of the claim (the detriment c

Employment tribunals can seem daunting, especially for those working in the education sector. Whether you are a teacher, administrator,...

In today's fast-paced world, the role of Human Resources (HR) in education is more crucial than ever. Schools and educational...

In today's fast-paced world, understanding employment law is crucial for schools and nurseries. These institutions not only shape young...