HR Advice, Support and Training

High quality, professional, individually tailored HR advice and support is best delivered by a team who have extensive experience of working with schools and who know and understand your school. We have a proven track record of working with Nottinghamshire schools and understand the financial and employment responsibilities of schools and the Local Authority including the current challenges that you face.

This year we continue to provide excellent value for money and the linking together of specific services, provide your school with a more flexible offer and a wider choice of ways to purchase our packages. In joining some of our offers together we provide a beginning to end process on a many issues.

We will work in partnership with your school to ensure that you have access to a comprehensive and personalised package of advice and support covering both straightforward and complex employment matters. In doing so we will ensure that you receive tailored and joined up support including transactional HR management services such as payroll; occupational health; training and HR advice and support with associated legal advice if required to identify areas for action and ensure achievement of the key strategic priorities for your school.

In buying our services you can be reassured of quality of services; our financial stability and that all advice and support is underpinned by a comprehensive insurance package. Our offers include prompt, professional and individually tailored advice and support for all employment issues.

What we offer:

We have two levels of service:

Standard:

The core service includes telephone and on line advice, tailored on-site support as specified, attendance at employment hearings in an advisory capacity, advice and support on restructuring, job evaluation and redundancy issues, termly group training and employment law updates as they impact on schools.

Enhanced:

In addition to the standard service, this includes an increased number of on site visits and levels of face to face advice and support plus other elements outlined in the table below.

Costs:

Package	Standard	Enhanced	Add. charges
Flat charge + per capita rate based on staff numbers per school (as at January 2013 payroll). There is no differentiated cost offer for Primary, Special, Secondary or academy schools.	£1020 + £28.86 per staff	£1020 + £36.10 per staff
Advice and support
Professional and efficient telephone and email advice for day to day HR queries including dedicated HR duty Team.	•	•
Telephone and written advice tailored to specific circumstances for all employment issues including discipline, recruitment, appraisal, performance (capability) issues, attendance management, ill health (capability) issues, grievance and harassment issues. Includes attendance of an HR officer to advise at formal hearings and appeals.	•	•
Employment advice supported by the Local Authority Legal Services team. In purchasing this service, you are gaining specialist support to defend any employment tribunals or court proceedings arising from the application of the employment processes.	• capped at £10,300 per annum*	• capped at £20,600 per annum*
Specialist advice and support on conditions of service for all school based staff.	•	•
Advice and support for managing maternity, paternity and adoption leave - prices shown below.	•	•
Advice and support to restructure including staffing reductions, TUPE, redundancies and evaluation of grades for school support staff.	•	•
Advice and support to redesign your structure including expert advice on job design and job evaluation to ensure future equality proofing of your pay structure.		•
HR advisory on-site visits in addition to attendance at hearings and appeals.	• 15 hours per annum	• 25 hours per annum
Additional visits and consultancy support to assist your leadership team to manage complex casework and other identified school priorities.	£620 per day	£410 per day
Comprehensive advice and support on complex employee relations matters.		•
Support for welfare visits to absent staff at home. Charge for HR officer to accompany.		•	£26 per hour
Face to face advice and support for health related casework.		•
HR alerts, updates and guidance relating to new and impending changes to employment law and associated policy development and its application in the schools context - including negotiation and consultation with the relevant trades unions.	•	•
An internet advice service keeping you updated on all of the latest changes in legislation, guidance and best practice.	•	•
Advice on statutory compliance, for example equality requirements.	•	•
Access to group training and briefing events for schools on HR polices and practices and new initiatives (at least 1 event will be provided each term).	•	•
Ad hoc HR training and development accessible at the reduced consultancy rate.		•
Access to a range of additional employee benefits e.g. child care vouchers. This is available to academies if separately negotiated with the provider.	•	•
Access to the Staff Absence Insurance scheme. Charges apply - see separate entry for details.	•	•
Safer working practices including recruitment
Criminal Records Bureau: - Standard check - Enhanced check - Administration charge	• • •	• • •	£27 each £45 each £16 each
Advice and support on all safer working policies and procedures including recruitment to headteacher level as part of the wider responsibility in schools for safeguarding children and young people.	•	•
Recruitment advertising (national and local publications and on-line), placement of advert, provision of short-listing packs. Complete artwork can be produced by the Council's Marketing team and will be charged/invoiced separately.	•	•	£62 per advert
Pre-employment checks and appointment documentation and issuing letter of appointment and contract.	•	•	£144 per appointee
Issuing variation to contract of employment.	•	•	£21 per contract
Advice and support for managing maternity, paternity and adoption leave casework.	•	•	£287 per case
Advice on inspectorial compliance - for example the single central record.	•	•
Access to Safeguarding in Schools training package including Safeguarding Awareness for all staff, Designated Person training and training for Newly Qualified Teachers.	•	•	£77 per delegate

* Applies to all schools buying the HR service (including Academy schools). Capped at this amount unless in exceptional circumstances by mutual agreement and only applies where HR support and advice has been sought and followed.

The Standard and Enhanced packages include advice and assistance to the Governing Body on matters relating to employment law and HR policies and procedures. Insurance is provided against employment tribunal remedy costs (which can be unlimited) though claims will not be valid where our advice has not been sought or followed.

Academy schools - the HR Service does not include insurance cover for the award of compensation or remedy costs in employment tribunal or court proceedings. Consideration should be given by the Trust to arranging their own separate insurance cover for remedy cost purposes.

This is an annual package available to all Nottinghamshire schools. Schools are required to give 6 months notice in order to cease use of the service.

How to buy

You can order elements of this service through the interactive order form.

For initial enquiries call 0300 500 80 80.

For bespoke packages, longer term contracts or in-depth enquiries, contact the service directly:

Gill Elder
tel: 0115 977 3867
email: gillian.elder@nottscc.gov.uk

Benefits to your school

A service offer that builds on and values the relationship we have with schools across the County.
A joined up, end to end service using the links with other Local Authority professional areas of service.
Experienced HR professionals who understand your issues and who are there to provide solution focused advice specific to your circumstances.
A dedicated point of contact for all HR queries.
A high quality, responsive and flexible service which is tailored to meet each school's particular needs to ensure effective management of staff and legal compliance.
Tailored information and advice to ensure you are kept up to date with changes to employment law and how they impact on your school.
Training and development opportunities delivered by experienced trainers, specifically developed for schools, to ensure that you and your staff are legally compliant and up to date in relation to good employment practice.
Cost effective, efficient and end to end recruitment and pre-employment checking processes to ensure that you are legally compliant and children are protected.

Our pledge

We will provide you with a professional, high quality HR service that is flexible and responsive to your needs and offers you value for money. We will respond to your telephone calls within 1 working day, to emails within 1 working day where possible and to written enquiries within 5 working days.