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The Supreme Court’s decision in For Women Scotland Ltd is one of the most significant Equality Act developments in recent years. It clarified that, for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010, the terms “sex”, “man” and “woman” refer to biological sex. That is a major legal clarification. But for employers, public bodies, charities, schools, service providers and organisations delivering public-facing services, the real challenge is not simply knowing what the judgment says. It

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...