Human Resources

A significant part of your headteacher role will involve supporting and managing your staff. There are a range of statutory obligations and employment law considerations which need to be applied to ensure that your school is compliant and regarded as a reasonable employer. The way staff are managed can impact on the school’s reputation and your ability to recruit and retain staff. Human Resources (HR) covers a range of functions across the whole life cycle of an employment relationship.

Schools are required to have relevant policies in place to manage HR matters including:

• Teachers’ Pay (in Buckinghamshire we recommend a whole school pay policy)
• Conduct and Discipline
• Capability
• Grievance
• Health and Attendance
• Flexible Working
• Maternity and Adoption Guide
• Model Pay Policies
• Model Leave of Absence Policies
• Redundancy Policy
• Whistleblowing Policy

HR develops model policies on these and other important HR subjects to support schools.  We undertake formal consultation with recognised unions on your behalf so they are ready to be formally adopted by school governing bodies or management boards.

The HR team are experts at providing high quality support and training across a range of HR functions as follows:

Payroll

All staff need to be confident that they will be paid promptly and accurately. School Business Managers and Bursars need to understand their obligations in the process. HR payroll services ensure that relevant pay legislation is complied with and that reward policies are accurate. The service is based around a standard, integrated People Life Cycle of Joining, Working, Learning and Development, Reward and Leaving.

Resourcing

As a headteacher you will want to attract and select the most skilled, talented and motivated candidates for permanent, fixed term and agency roles. HR advise and assist schools in attracting the most suitable candidates for roles including support with advertising, help with shortlisting, interview techniques and undertaking rigorous pre-employment and safeguarding checks.

Recruitment Advertising Service

The team will check your advertisement to ensure legal compliance and then publish it on the Buckinghamshire Council website, intranet and weekly school’s vacancy report. Through this service your advert is picked up and re-advertised by as many as 12 other websites at no additional charge including Eteach, The Educator, Indeed, Glassdoor and others. We can also promote your adverts on social media and with the National Job Centre to help you meet the resident labour market test for recruiting candidates from outside the European Economic Area.

Recruitment Consultancy Service

The team can help with all aspects of recruitment and selection from writing job advertisements, job descriptions/person specifications and candidate information packs, to designing interview questions, taking up references and co-ordinating assessment centres.

Employee Relations

The Consultancy and Advisory Team (previously known as the Employee Relations Advisory Service) is committed to offering you a high-quality, professional, consultancy service that enables you to effectively manage, support, and develop your workforce. It provides tailored advice and guidance on all employee relations matters with the aim being to prevent issues escalating to formal procedures. Advice includes the following: conduct and discipline, capability and grievance, managing attendance and ill health, restructuring and redundancies, outsourcing, Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) TUPE’s, settlement agreements and terms and conditions of employment. The team also provides training around the policy areas noted above as well as training on tools/techniques in dealing with workplace issues.

Safeguarding in Employment

The service includes:

• Advice and delivery of pre-employment and DBS checks
• Advice on checks for contractors, volunteers and overseas staff
• Single Central Record and best practice
• Advice on positive DBS checks
• Providing updates on ever-changing safeguarding in employment legislation, such as KCSiE and Childcare Disqualification Regulations
• Delivery of safeguarding in employment workshops for staff
• Teaching Regulation Agency Checks – such as Prohibition Order Checks;
• Section 128 Checks (academies and free schools only);
• Childcare Disqualification Checks;
• Proof of Right to work in the UK requirements;
• Sponsoring Migrant Workers; and
• Any other vetting requirements.

Occupational Health

Occupational health is an independent and confidential service that actively promotes and maintains good health in the workplace in order to support employers and employees when working impacts on health and health impacts on workers.

Pensions

Pension administration can be complex and requires a high degree to expertise. The HR pension team look after the pension records of staff and In Teachers Pension Scheme and the Local Government Pension Scheme. Pension information and staff records need to be updated regularly (at least annually) and staff need to be confident that any advice they receive is accurate and kept confidential.

All of the above services are available to be purchased as part of the Buckinghamshire Traded Services Offer to schools. Buckinghamshire Council HR team have many years of expertise of working with schools and internal partners to provide a service which aims to allow headteachers more time to concentrate on the learning and developments of the pupils in their care.

Key Contacts
Contact for all of the above HR Services is via the HR service desk:

01296 382233
hrservicedesk@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Benefits and Support

Buckinghamshire is a great place to work and there are some great benefits and discounts available to you. SchoolsWeb lets you know how you can get more out of working for Buckinghamshire Council from enhancements to your pay package to the flexible ways you can fit your working life around the demands of your home life. Please share these benefits with your staff on a regular basis to remind them about some of the reasons for working in Bucks.

See https://schoolsweb.buckscc.gov.uk/hr-zone/benefits-for-buckinghamshire-council-school-employees/

Education Support Partnership           

(formerly Teacher Support Network)

Education Support Partnership covers all roles in schools, not just teachers. They are a national independent charity that provides practical and emotional support to all staff working in education, both serving and retired, and their families regardless of age, length or service or union affiliations. They believe that everyone working in education deserves to feel at their best and help organisations and their staff to boost health, happiness and well-being through individual support.

So, whether you are a Headteacher, a Teacher, a Learning Support Assistant, a Caretaker or hold another key role in your setting, they can support you. They offer free, confidential round-the-clock access to counselling, support and advice.

For information, support and counselling call them on 08000 562 561 or text 07909 341229. For information about their resources or to chat to a counsellor online visit https://www.educationsupportpartnership.org.uk/