Join education leaders and legal experts for a comprehensive update on the latest legislative changes affecting schools. This essential event will cover key developments in employment relations, equal pay, and health and safety, along with up-to-date guidance on privacy rights and obligations. Delve into complex issues such as managing employee return-to-work after medical incapacity and navigating the Serious Disputes Tribunal. In the afternoon, explore emerging legal considerations in school sports, and gain insights into governance challenges during construction and restructuring projects. Don’t miss this opportunity to ensure your school is informed, compliant, and prepared.
Description
Attend and earn 7 PLD Hours
Attend and earn 7 CPD hours
Session 1: Workplace Law and Privacy Law in the School Environment
Chair: Maria Mckenzie, Cluster Manager Remutaka Resource Teacher Learning and Behaviour, Masterton Primary School
9.30am to 10.30am Medical Incapacity: Return to Work
- Issues where an employee is due to return from medical leave (often stress related) and wishes to have reduced or amended duties
- How should this be managed?
- What is reasonable, particularly in terms of the extra load this adds to colleagues' workloads?
- Situation where an injury was suffered outside of work hours vs in the workplace
- When is it appropriate to consider a medical incapacity process?
Presented by Jordan Boyle, Partner, Dyhrberg Drayton Employment Law
10.30am to 10.45am Morning Tea
10.45am to 11.45am Navigating Privacy Rights and Obligations in Schools
- Exploring the latest guidance from the Privacy Commissioner as a result of the ‘Children’s Privacy Project’
- How to deal with conflicting interests? For example, when a student does not want a parent to see their personal information
- Navigating requests for access to information and considering whether ‘exceptions’ apply
- Assessing whether a privacy breach is notifiable
Presented by Rachael Judge, Partner, Simpson Grierson and Rachel Nightingale, Senior Associate, Simpson Grierson
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the recent legislative changes under the Employment Relations Act 2000, Equal Pay Act 1972 and Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 relevant to your school
- Receive practical guidance on the issues to consider with employees returning to work after medical incapacity
- Consider the latest guidance with privacy issues
- Learn more about the Serious Disputes Tribunal
Session 2: Legal Concerns in Sports, Construction and Restructuring in Schools
Chair: David Graham, Principal, Goodwood School
1.30pm to 2.30pm School Sports: A Legal Right, or a Privilege?
- Issues arising for schools dealing with parents raising legal challenges in respect of school sports
- Issues for schools dealing with “School clubs” often loosely associated with the school and end up running autonomously in the school’s name
Presented by James Pullar, Partner, Taylor Shaw Barristers & Solicitors
8.30am to 9.30am A Change Gon’ Come – Recent Workplace Legislative Changes and their Implications for Schools
The coalition government’s reform agenda extends beyond just curriculum and attendance. Explore three key employment law legislative changes:
- Employment Relations Act 2000 – why the onboarding process for school employees is about to change and how the door has been opened to a different approach to school employees undertaking partial strike action
- Equal Pay Act 1972 – why the changed pay equity claim mechanism makes it harder for school employees and their unions to raise and progress claims
- Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 – how a focusing on the responsibilities of governors may result in more health and safety work falling to the principal
Presented by Maynard Scott, National Employment Relations Advisor, Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa, New Zealand School Boards Association
11.45am to 12.45pm Obligation to Act Fairly in the Collection and Use of Information About Students and Whānau
Decision making by schools about students inevitably turns on the perception of “relevant” information which is relied on to form “evidence based” findings. When students and their whānau believe that school decisions about them are unfair, they will often dispute the nature and content of the “relevant” information relied on by the decision makers and how they have used it. This session will examine, through discussion of hypothetical “use cases”, some of the potential “icebergs” in collection and use of student and whānau information that can potentially embroil schools in complaint processes that may otherwise involve the Privacy Commissioner, Ombudsman, Ministry of Education, Human Rights Commission, or Teaching Council.
- Student discipline cases and the public law requirement to take into account only relevant considerations and to set aside irrelevant considerations – how do you determine relevance?
- The obligation of schools under Information Privacy Principle 8 (IPP 8) to take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information they use in making decisions about students and their whānau is accurate, up to date, complete, relevant, and not misleading – what is mean in practice?
- Student enrolment cases - as schools move to limit out of zone enrolment more strictly, what information is relevant when applying the current Ministry guidelines when students move out of zone, or where the Ministry of Education or Oranga Tamariki direct a board under the ETA to enrol a student?
- Use of surveys to collect information from students to inform decision making – what information are you collecting and how are you using it?
- Pastoral notes – how does the obligation to correct information under Information Privacy Principle 7 apply where a student or their whānau disagree with the way incidents and resulting school actions are recorded in pastoral notes?
Presented by Leo Donnelly ONZM, Barrister, Education Law NZ
2.30pm to 3.30pm Construction Issues for Schools
- The board’s role and responsibilities
- Practical realities of construction in a school environment
- Health and safety
- Understanding project management and payment processes
- Role of the Ministry of Education
Presented by Jonathan Forsey, Special Counsel, Duncan Cotterill
3.30pm to 3.45pm Afternoon Tea
3.45pm to 4.45pm Restructuring: Minimising the Risks
- Substantive justification
- Procedural fairness
- Good faith
- Contractual obligations
Presented by Fi McMillan, Special Counsel, Anderson Lloyd
Learning Objectives:
- Consider issues that may arise with school sports
- Understand construction issues for schools
- Examine how to minimise risks when restructuring
Presenters
Maynard Scott, National Employment Relations Advisor, Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa, New Zealand School Boards Association
Maynard Scott is an in-house lawyer as part of his role as National Employment Relations Advisor at Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa – New Zealand School Boards Association (formerly known as NZSTA). In this role, he provides counsel for the organisation’s network of advisors, is a representative for state and state-integrated school board employers during the bargaining for education sector collective bargaining and pay equity claims and, working with the Ministry of Education and unions, guides the implementation of bargaining and claim settlements within schools in New Zealand. Alongside this work, he is a member of the Committee of the New Zealand Chapter of Australia New Zealand Education Law Association and has contributed to the International Journal of Law and Education. Before employment law, Maynard served two terms on his school’s board, tutored Criminal law and night-managed a university hall of residence home to 300 students.
Jordan Boyle, Partner, Dyhrberg Drayton Employment Law
Jordan graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 2014 and was admitted to the Bar in September 2014. He joined Dyhrberg Drayton Employment Law in 2016. Jordan strategically advises employers and employees on a range of employment law matters. Jordan is usually able to pragmatically resolve contentious matters through negotiation and mediation. Where matters are not able to be resolved Jordan has consistently achieved successful outcomes through litigation. Jordan has appeared at all levels of courts and authorities, from the Employment Relations Authority to the Supreme Court. Jordan is an experienced workplace investigator, undertaking independent investigations for employers of all sizes in the public and private sector on a range of issues.
Rachael Judge, Partner, Simpson Grierson
Rachael Judge is a Partner at Simpson Grierson, specialising in employment and education law. Rachael acts for several independent and state schools on matters such as terms of enrolment, student disciplinary issues, student human rights claims, school policies and the Children’s Act 2014. She also advises schools in relation to their employment agreements and staff disciplinary issues. Rachael regularly attends mediations and represents clients in Employment Relations Authority, Employment Court and Human Rights Review Tribunal matters.
Rachel Nightingale, Senior Associate, Simpson Grierson
Rachel has a broad range of experience in employment law matters, including advising on all types of personal grievance claims (including in respect of interim reinstatement applications in the Employment Relations Authority), disciplinary and performance concerns, and restructuring. Rachel is focused on providing strategic and pragmatic advice to her clients, assisting them to achieve commercial and fair outcomes. Rachel also has experience in education law, representing both independent and state schools on matters including enrolment agreements, school policies, student disciplinary issues, student human rights claims, as well as school staff issues.
Leo Donnelly ONZM, Barrister, Education Law NZ
Leo Donnelly ONZM is a former Ombudsman of New Zealand and is one of New Zealand’s leading experts in official information and privacy law. As an Ombudsman, Deputy Ombudsman and a senior investigator at the Office of the Ombudsman, Leo spent 3 decades investigating and reviewing complaints about the administrative actions and procedures of state sector organisations and recommending resolutions to promote fair, just and transparent delivery of services to the public. This involved assessing individual actions and omissions in the context of an organisations systems and culture and statutory responsibilities. Leo brings governance and strategy expertise and wide experience in complaint handling and dispute resolution.
David Graham, Principal, Goodwood School
David Graham is an experienced school leader having led three primary schools across the Waikato. He is currently the principal of Goodwood School (a primary school of 400 students) and co-leader of Te Kahūi Ako o Te Oko Horoi, the Cambridge Community of Learning. David has recently returned from the United Kingdom where he worked with the Anna Freud Centre and the national Partnership for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme. His research investigated policy and programmes which support learners who are neurodiverse, their peers and teachers.
James Pullar, Partner, Taylor Shaw Barristers & Solicitors
James is a Partner at Taylor Shaw and is the head of the Civil Litigation and Employment, and Education Law practice. He acts for a wide variety of clients including local and national businesses, School Boards of Trustees, Independent Schools around New Zealand, and private individuals. James regularly appears in the District Court and the High Court across a broad range of civil work, as well as in the Employment Relations Authority and the Employment Court. James is recognised as a senior litigator and employment lawyer. He advises our clients in respect of issues that arise in a workplace environment. This includes disciplinary investigations, strategic advice on restructuring processes, and personal grievances. In civil litigation, James has developed specialist expertise in insurance law, negligence, contractual disputes, as well as contentious trust and estate matters. James also advises clients in relation to matters that arise in a School environment, including suspensions and exclusions, resolving complaints, staff issues, and property matters. James is an active contributor to New Zealand Law Society programmes, including Employment Law conferences and seminars, and the annual Young Lawyers’ Mooting Competition. He currently sits on both the NZLS (Canterbury-Westland) Employment Law Committee and Special Events Committee and is a previous convenor of the Junior Practitioners’ Committee.
Maria Mckenzie, Cluster Manager Remutaka Resource Teacher Learning and Behaviour, Masterton Primary School
Maria leads a team of itinerant specialist teachers who work across 53 schools in the Wairarapa and Upper Hutt region alongside education and service providers, to identify local needs and resources, and plan support based on the evidence of what works, to best support children and young people to learn, thrive and belong. She has leadership experience and has held governance leadership roles across educational, health, community and not for profit sectors. With an academic background in Psychology, Neuroscience and Education, Counselling and Small Business management Maria has worked across a wide range of sectors supporting people and organisations to embrace and manage transitions and change.
Jonathan Forsey, Special Counsel, Duncan Cotterill
Jonathan is a Special Counsel in the Christchurch litigation and dispute resolution team. He has considerable experience across a broad range of civil litigation and alternative dispute resolution forums, including the Courts at all levels, specialist tribunals, arbitration, mediation and adjudication. Jonathan also works with clients on risk management, preparation and updating of policies and training. Jonathan has a wealth of experience dealing with contractual disputes, insolvency, director‚ duties and administrative law. He deals with issues relating to construction disputes and their resolution. Jonathan advises clients on construction contracts issues, contracting, delay, variations, retentions and compliance issues, insurance and regulatory matters, as well as contract and negligence issues. He has a particular interest in how the sector responds to challenges arising from natural disasters, supply chain issues and disruption in the construction process. Jonathan has published articles and made appearances in panel discussions and in media in respect of Construction, Directors‚ Duties, Debt Recovery, Internet, Media Law and related issues in New Zealand and overseas. Jonathan has been a board member and secretary of the Society of Construction Law New Zealand since 2018.
Fi McMillan, Special Counsel, Anderson Lloyd
Fi specialises in employment and education law. She is the legal advisor to the NZPF "Principals' Advice and Support Scheme." Prior to becoming a lawyer Fi worked as a primary school teacher in New Zealand and in the UK, and completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Child Advocacy. She has also worked on several Boards. This experience puts her in a strong position to advise on legal issues affecting schools. Fiona is committed to working with her clients to find the best possible outcome, whether that can be achieved by constructive discussions and resolution of issues or through more formal processes.
