Education HR Service and Advice

Because within any organisation the people who staff it are key to its success, the importance of getting the basics right to ensure a fulfilled and motivated workforce cannot be over-emphasised.

Within the education sector, the contentment of the staff will always reflect directly upon the overall atmosphere within the establishment. A school or academy with a happy, well-catered-for workforce will always deliver the very best level of education for its pupils, meeting objectives and standards along the way.

It can be quite a challenge to keep up with all the necessary school HR policies and procedures that must be adhered to in order to comply with legal and statutory requirements, and drawing resources away from essential school administrative processes to assist with this will only prove to be a drain.

Handing over HR education processes to a team of dedicated experts with proven hands-on experience in taking care of the typical school HR services that arise day to day will free up valuable resources and deliver peace of mind in many ways. And having a sounding board and an industry specific knowledge base to tap into for strategic planning on issues such as school organisation and reorganisation will prove highly advantageous.

Employment law is a vastly changing landscape, and so is education law. Join the two together, and you can see the importance and value of a dedicated education HR consultancy service.

What education HR services can HCB help my school with?

Our service begins with a personal visit to your school or academy to enable us to properly get to know your establishment and understand any particular issues faced. HCB has always been about forging long term partnerships, and our specialist background in the education sector has seen us build numerous enduring relationships nationwide.

What are the individual issues faced at your school? What problems arise on a regular basis? How can these be tackled and prevented? What areas of your school HR services can be streamlined and consolidated to bring greater efficiency into your processes? What can be done to boost staff morale and contentment? All of these questions and more will be answered when you partner with a dedicated school HR advisor from HCB.

HCB Solicitors can help with all aspects of education HR services including:

• Employment contracts and terms and conditions
• Recruitment and selection
• Redundancy and dismissal
• Maternity and paternity
• Sickness absence
• Disciplinary and grievance procedures
• Representation at tribunals
• Staff welfare and development policies
• Capability and performance management
• Staff training
• Equality and discrimination
• Trade union relations
• Representation at hearings and appeals
• Drafting of all types of school HR policies and procedures
• Payroll management
• School organisation and reorganisation

What are the main HR education issues affecting schools and academies?

Within an educational establishment, due to its very nature, there will always be particular areas of HR that tend to rise to the surface perhaps more so than in other industry sectors. Teaching staff in particular will often feel that they face challenges on a daily basis, and these challenges will have a habit of impacting upon motivation, attitude and performance.

Some of the issues that result include absence and in some cases complex absence issues involving workplace stress, and grievances over lack of time and resources.

Complaints against teaching staff will also unfortunately crop up, perhaps via the pupils themselves or through their parents. Common complaints include disputes over grading, unfair treatment and discrimination. These need to be dealt with using the correct legal processes, always being mindful of maintaining good relations amongst staff, pupils and parents, and upholding the preferential reputation of the school or academy.

At HCB our aim is to get to the root of matters such as these and to work on creating effective education HR solutions that deal with problems at the core; preventing them rather than firefighting them as they arise.

How can education HR solutions help with the long term development of my school?

There are numerous ways in which professional, outsourced education HR services can be implemented with the overall objective of boosting the success and development of a school or academy.

For example, with an outsider view, it may be identified that a reorganisation of the school’s structure could prove beneficial to the establishment, its pupils, its staff and the local community.

A third party perspective will also often identify gaps in training and missed potential. For example it may be that certain staff members are ideal for leadership roles, and with the right training they could become highly valuable assets.

What is HCB’s expertise in the area of education HR?

HCB Solicitors are renowned across England and Wales for their specialised expertise in the area of education HR advice. We have on numerous occasions successfully resolved highly complex school HR matters, including official investigations, and provided advice to panels at hearings.

Our expertise also extends to school reorganisation and all the employment law related matters that accompany it such as TUPE transfers and changing terms and conditions. A large number of schools have entrusted us with their transition to alternative structures, during which we have handled every aspect including final implementation and communication of the advantages of the changes to staff, parents and pupils.

We provide education HR advice and consultancy on a strategic basis as well as a practical one, so that the schools we take care of have continuous access to the resources they need to help them make positive long term decisions, whilst keeping everyday matters in check and within the law.

The HCB education law team has been carefully compiled of legal and financial professionals who have specific expertise in education law which in many cases has been gained from hands-on roles within educational establishments and local authorities. The resulting unique level of insight has made a significant difference to countless schools and academies the length and breadth of England and Wales.

If you are looking for a respected education HR consultancy service for your school or academy and would like to talk to us about how we could work together, please get in touch: we look forward to getting to know you.