Guidance

More holidays

There is a consultation running currently on making the minimum holiday entitlement 28 days. This means that statutory holidays will be added to the 20 days at present and not subsumed within them.

SENCO mandatory

Since January there has been a statutory requirement to appoint a special needs coordinator (SENCO). The regulations and guidance are being consulted on: one issue is whether a SENCO must have, or be working towards, qualified teacher status.

Right to silence?

It is sometimes necessary to proceed with a disciplinary hearing while the police are still investigating a matter that is relevant to the hearing. In a recent case the employment appeal tribunal has ruled that the employee must take the consequences if he or she does not turn up for the internal hearing or refuses to say anything because he or she feels that may give information to the police investigation. The employer may carry on with the hearing and still be considered to have dismissed fairly.

Equal pay claims

An equal pay case has established that a person making a claim can compare themselves with a successor. This does not mean that, if a post is revalued once a vacancy has occurred, there are automatically grounds for a claim if the incoming and departing members of staff are of different genders. It does mean, though, that there should be a proper consideration of why the post needs to be valued at that level, as the employer will need to present objective and non-discriminatory reasons if challenged.