Members’ Defence
The NEU has increased the number of NEU solicitors as part of its recent staffing review. But there are problems recruiting Solicitors for the Union. Employment Solicitors seem to be in short supply everywhere. The market for law is difficult apparently, despite the rise of AI. Get your kids to train for employment law, it’s thriving.
The Boswell Case
In this committee we heard the details of a case that could have significant implications for your rights if you’re off sick. It went to a hearing in November published last month. If you want to look further into it it’s entitled J Boswell v Beacon Multi Academy Trust Ltd.
Joanna Boswell is one of our members. She is a support staff member. She had a cancer diagnosis before she started the job. She began employment in 2015 and told her employer about it and had time off and submitted time off appointments to deal with some post minor issues after she recovered. She later was off sick and had a stage 1 absence meeting. And we all love those don’t we? Her attendance improved as her health improved.
She had surgery in 2019 and was off for 3 months. In November 2020 she went on Maternity Leave. The Head changed. She made a flexible working request which was refused. She was due to return to work but she needed an emergency tonsillectomy. She sent sick notes to her employer via her personal email. Her line manager called her and sent an email to her work address but the member didn’t respond because she wasn’t accessing her work email. In January the employer emailed her back to her personal email for a Stage 1 meeting. The meeting went ahead in her absence because Joanna was too ill and the NEU rep attended. She then had a Stage 1 formal warning. Joanna appealed this decision.
But despite the Occupational Health Report explaining her situation thoroughly, Joanna’s appeal wasn’t upheld. She then went straight to Stage 3 and skipped Stage 2. She was subsequently dismissed. She appealed. She went through the school’s internal procedures because you can’t go straight to a tribunal until all of these procedures are exhausted, and the dismissal was upheld and the NEU then took this to a Tribunal on multiple claims- unfair dismissal. The findings of the Tribunal- the employer wasn’t interested in her welfare. The employer misinterpreted their own policy. While she was off ill the employer should have tried to find out more about her health issues rather than using triggers and “sanctions”. The informal stage was basically ignored. The employer fought this case hard.
This case highlights the need for record keeping. Members should keep the employer informed and keep a record of all appointments. The tribunal ruled that this was discrimination arising out of Disability. This may arise- for instance during a sickness absence if you are placed at a disadvantage- and there is a failure of the employer to make reasonable adjustments. Our member was more likely to be ill as a consequence of her disability and the employer should consider your disability in relation to absence. Formal sanctions and letters only adds to stress levels. The employer was found to have treated her unfavourably because of her cancer. They could have extended the trigger points or tried to resolve this informally.
The employer should try to find out about the cause of the absence, not just a tick box. Unfair policies were also a consideration for the Tribunal.
One of the lessons for us is that you should always engage during your absence, even if you feel awful, and say that you want to return to work. The member made a Subject Access request to the OH provider as part of this process and discovered that the Head had contacted the OH provider which they hid from Joanna!
Therefore some triggers are not fair to disabled people. Joanna won. There is a final hearing in May.
Membership system update
Currently it’s called Stratum and it’s the core of our data, and tells the Union where people work and live and everything. The supplier of our data system is a private company and there were problems with it. We as a Union have taken a lot for granted in relation to what the system does. We selected a new supplier. We have about 1,000 requirements for the new system provider. The current provider may not last long in a fast changing market. The new system or the plan for it is to improve the balloting process. Problem with disaggregated ballots need to be considered in the future as our education system seems to further fragment. The new system should be finished in July and in July and October it will be tested and we hope the new system will be in place by the end of the year.
Employment Rights Act
As I said earlier and as you probably know, the Employment Rights Act is being rolled out over a number of years.
A win for the NEU is that there is now an obligation of the employer to inform staff of the right to join an trade Union which should mean more union members in the workplace. The NEU is also pushing for more flexibility for trade unions with online ballots.
The ERA is the best thing to have happened to trade union members for decades. Decades! One significant highlight for the NEU given the female make up of our workforce is that here will be enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers. I’ve written below some of the important features of the roll-out of the Act.
Employment Rights Act roll out February 2026
- 40% threshold for industrial action ballots has been repealed.
- Minimum notice to employers has been reduced from 14 to 10 days.
- The maximum ballot period has been extended from 6 to 12 months.
- Requirement to appoint a picket supervisor has been repealed.
- Protection from unfair dismissal for taking part in industrial action has been extended.
- Facility Time reporting requirements have been repealed.
- Bureaucracy related to political funds has been reduced.
Employment Rights Act April 2026
- Electronic voting for trade union members to be established- (delayed until October).
- Thresholds for ballots review.
- Statutory Sick Pay to be paid from day 1.
- Paternity Leave to be a Day 1 right.
- Ordinary Parental Leave to be a Day 1 right.
The next stage is in October and will look at Fire and Rehire, Harrassment, Employment Tribunal limits, Public Sector outsourcing. All of this could be gone if we an “unfriendly” government is elected in 2029.
General Secretary Report
Industrial Action Indicative Ballot
Reminder, there are two questions.
Question for teachers
- Do you reject the proposal of an unfunded 6.5% increase over three years for teacher pay?
- Are you prepared to take industrial action to win sufficient funding to secure an above inflation pay increase, reduce workload and defend existing directed time provisions, including the 1265 hours limit?
Question for support staff
- Do you agree that the defence of support staff jobs is essential to Save Education?
- Are you prepared to take industrial action to win sufficient funding to secure an above inflation pay increase, reduce workload and prevent redundancies?
The Executive recommends that members vote YES to both questions in both ballots.
The Special Conference we just had took a decision about recruitment of support staff. We have 65,000 support staff members. But we do not intend to “poach” members from other Unions. Our aim is to organise the unorganised. We don’t want a battle with other Unions. Our recruitment literature will ask support staff to join us openly. We are for example to sending out posters for staff rooms (if your school has one). There has been considerable kick back from the NJC Unions who also represent support staff, GMB, Unison and Unite. As we are in breach of the TUC agreement with other unions the NEU is likely to receive a significant sanction. Support staff started to be employed in schools in really significant numbers from 2000. There was a massive rise between 2000 and 2010. This was in the day before the disintegration of the education service and rampant academisation and support staff were seen as “council employees” rather than school employees which is why GMB, Unison and Unite represented them. There have been huge changes since then in the educational landscape and it makes sense for Unions in one workplace to be represented by one Union. (This is an old idea stretching back to the 19th century and it was called Industrial Unionism.) But the old agreement doesn’t incentivize the GMB, Unison and Unite to make concessions to the NEU. Lay union officials in all public sector unions have the right to be released to represent members. This is called Facility Time. Currently Facility time for the NEU goes before Schools Forum which basically gives the employer an interest in keeping it as low as possible. The NJC Unions have their Facility Time awarded through the Local Authority ( I’m not an expert but I believe this is the case). That means that many of the NJC Union lay officials who are released for Facility Time get a better deal than the NEU who have to beg Schools Forum every year. I suspect, but I can’t prove it, that many lay JNC Union reps may be worried that the NEU, because it is representing support staff in ever greater numbers will begin to challenge their right to Facility Time for support staff in the long term. That’s why there has been such a kickback from the other Unions. I’m not sure what the answer is. Clearly the NEU and the NASUWT shouldn’t have to beg every year at Schools Forum.
Together Alliance
Its aim to is reverse the popularity of Reform and the Far right at the ballot box and in the street. There will be a march on 28th March. We will march from Hyde Park. Also if you like very loud music- get there.
White Paper, SEND Reforms and other matters
Cap in independent special school fees
£3bn for specialist places over 3 years.
Funding is insufficient and workload will be a problem and Ofsted’s role in measuring inclusion is very problematic. We need the curriculum to reflect children’s needs. Progress 8 will be retained- we oppose the use of Progress 8 to judge school effectiveness and Ofted’s role in measuring inclusion.
Pupil Teacher ratios remain unchanged.
There will be a significant rise in the DFE capital budget ( buildings) in 2027 and full-pay maternity leave is doubled from 4 to 8 weeks.
Academisation has failed, and academies as the default solution is wrong.
The TUC is running a campaign on End of Life leave which doesn’t appear to be on the Employment Act agenda.
We are fighting on accountability and new tests as well as funding as part of our overall strategy. And we will have a Motion before Conference about this.
The fragmentation of the education system has resulted in a significant negative impact on HR advice. HR is the new Wild West. We submitted evidence on the role of HR because the Government likes data.
As I stated before the Education Unions have to go to Schools Forum whereas that isn’t the case with other NJC Unions. Why should we treated differently? That is something we hope to be pushing for.
In solidarity,
Peter
National Executive Member and Joint Liverpool NEU Secretary