Providing legal advice and support
to the education sector

Northampton based and serving clients within the Northampton, Bedford, and Milton Keynes areas - FG Solicitors provides the education sector with a one-stop shop solution for all HR and employment law requirements.

Our history of working alongside academic management teams enables us to bring considerable knowledge of and expertise to this specialist field. Since its inception, and following rigorous assessment, FG achieved and maintained the Lexcel accreditation; the Law Society's legal practice quality mark for excellence.

Advisory Service

Acting as your in-house adviser for the fraction of time you need us, thereby giving you a cost-effective and holistic service: providing initial advice and support at strategic and operational levels, to representation at tribunals. Read more

Terms and Conditions - our team has a detailed understanding of staff terms and conditions, and employment legislation which is specific to schools including training schools. Our support includes advice on national conditions of service for teaching and support staff, and extends to representation with regards associated consultation with relevant trade unions.

Recruitment – providing support with all stages of staff and management recruitment including assisting management to define role requirements, supporting all pre-engagement activity, assistance with or conduct of assessments and helping to define the on-boarding framework.

Grievance and Disciplinary – in addition to advising and supporting you with all stages of fair and transparent grievance and disciplinary processes which are capable of withstanding scrutiny (including the provision of checklists and template letters) we can also provide personnel to independently chair hearings wherever necessary.

Health matters – assisting with organisational frameworks which support the genuinely ill and provides an intervention strategy for dealing with recovery and return to work, or exit.

Subject Access Requests – working with you to define the effective data infrastructure for your organisation to enable:

- simplification of processes for gathering and identifying data
- efficient responses to subject access requests
- risk management and reduction

Managing allegations against staff – with safeguarding of children being at the forefront of a school’s obligations and the resulting implications when allegations are made we have professionals experienced in devising action plans which manage all associated risks and ensure the observance of all of the parties’ rights.

Responding to Industrial Action – covering all aspects of industrial action ranging from the balloting of staff through to staff engagement in industrial action, we can guide and support you with this process including contingency planning.

Termination of Employment – we can devise and guide you through an exit strategy tailored to the circumstances of each case regardless of whether the termination of employment is due to resignation, retirement, or dismissal. This includes the provision of template letters, checklists, advice and support for meetings (either on-site or remotely as required) and exit interviews. We can also advise on termination dates and notice requirements. Show less

Project Work

All organisations go through periodic change - often the result of unpredicted external factors. We are experts in supporting the change management process and reducing the associated risks. Read more

Re-organisations and redundancy exercises - our team can conduct an independent review of your school and provide recommendations about changes to the current structure to meet its needs. We will then support you through the change management process and balance this against effectively managing employee relations.

Tribunal claims – with a proven track record in defending schools against tribunal claims, we will assume all responsibility for the day to day conduct of the litigation. This will reduce your loss of productivity and all pressures associated with responding to the claim(s). We also offer the option of legal expenses insurance which is triggered in the event of a tribunal claim against your school and thus provides you with peace of mind that the risk of incurring substantial cost is managed.

TUPE transfers including academy transfers - we will assist you with all aspects of the TUPE process including analysing the application of TUPE, due diligence, fulfilling consultation obligations and changing terms and conditions on transfer.

Multi-Academy Trust support – we can offer support and guidance to governors of maintained schools, trustees and local governors of existing MATs, as well as to those who are considering becoming or joining a MAT, in respect of applicable educational legislation and all relating employee relation issues. Show less

Performance Management

In-line with the legislation requirements implemented in 2012 we will guide you through and fully support you with the effective, transparent and fair development of staff with a view to achieving the overriding objective of motivating and optimising staff performance.

Training (Staff & Governors)

We offer bespoke training and workshops to Management teams and school governors in respect of their functions relating to staff employment in schools. Read more

  • Governor’s responsibilities
  • Recruitment of staff (support and teaching staff)
  • Performance management and dealing with performance issues
  • Dismissals
  • Grievances
  • Sickness Management
  • Redundancies
  • Equal Pay
  • Referrals to the General Teaching Council for England
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Out of hours 24/7 Emergency Helpline and on-site presence

Experience has taught us that emergencies don’t always occur during normal office hours. We therefore operate an emergency telephone helpline which is manned 24/7 365 days per year and a qualified solicitor will be available to take your call. Read more

Conscious that, whilst the telephone advice helpline has its place, we know that nothing substitutes an on-site meeting in many circumstances. As we are local we won't routinely charge for our time spent travelling to meet with you. On top of meetings to discuss specific issues, as part of our education contract, we hold on-site quarterly meetings with you.

We also offer, out of normal office hours, on-site attendance at school meetings including governors meetings. Show less

Audit Service

Our bespoke auditing methodology provides a comprehensive approach to delivering solutions for the management of people risk. This enables educational organisations to maximise the return on the investment in its workforce. Read more

The audit establishes the effectiveness of HR processes, identifies areas where efficiency and effectiveness can be improved, minimises all risks associated with inadequate HR policies, processes and documentation and gives school management teams increased certainty and control, and therefore reduces the pressures increasingly facing them today. Show less

Mediation

We have an accredited CEDR Mediator who can conduct mediation sessions. Mediation can be a quick, effective, and inexpensive way for parties to resolve grievances and restore working relationships.



Our team of highly skilled professionals combines over 60 years as employment law solicitors and advisers who adopt a proactive approach to employment law issues. Available to you by telephone and email, we tailor our service to your requirements to ensure that you are provided with the most effective service whilst always providing transparent value for money.

If you have not reviewed your school’s contracts, policies and procedures for more than two years we recommend a review now of those documents to ensure legal compliance.


For a discussion, with no obligation, click on the link below; a member of our team will then contact you to arrange a convenient time to discuss your requirements.


ABOUT FG SOLICITORS

Our team of highly skilled professionals have a combined level of experience covering over 60 years as solicitors specialising in Employment Law.

Call us today on 0808 172 93 22 or email us on info@fgsolicitors.co.uk




REQUEST A CALL BACK




We will aim to call you back within 30 minutes, Mon-Fri 8.30am-5.30pm

FG Solicitors provides us with an excellent and professional service. Their team members, who are readily available, fully understand our needs and always provide pragmatic and straight forward advice. At this time, with increasing demands and complexities of strategic leadership, we have found their support to be invaluable. We therefore have no hesitation in recommending them to other schools and colleges.

Laura Lawson
Head of Personnel
Sir John Deane’s College

FG Solicitors worked with us in partnership to deliver our corporate goals. They understood our needs and worked with us to find solutions tailored to meet our needs. Their knowledge and understanding of both public and private sector approaches has helped to deliver creative solutions to complex problems. They have a work ethic which is both professional and personable and staff within the company work seamlessly to provide an excellent team service; one company, one voice.

Dr Allan Howells
Pro Vice-Chancellor Operations
Glyndwr University

Based in Northampton; we are a leading niche firm of solicitors specialising in Employment Law, Human Resource support, Share Schemes, Corporate Immigration and Commercial Litigation.

0808 172 93 22

www.fgsolicitors.co.uk
Call us on: 0808 172 93 22