The legal risks facing schools today are real and numerous, and so too are the consequences If you ignore them. Back by popular demand, don’t miss your chance to catch up on the latest legal updates impacting the education sector. Build your inventory of practical tips and traps to effectively handle workplace bullying, manage medically unfit employees, WHS, privacy, social media, reputational crisis’, board performance & much more in this jammed packed day tailored for education professionals. 2311NZC01
Thursday, 23 November 2023
9.05am to 9.50am Key Education Law Updates
- The introduction of Codes of Conduct for school board members
- The introduction of principal eligibility criteria
- The new physical restraint rules and guidelines
- Legal obligations relating to school attendance
Presented by Fi McMillan, Special Counsel, Anderson Lloyd
9.50am to 10.35am Managing Workplace Bullying, Stress, and Medically Unfit Employees
- Workplace bullying
- Workplace stress as a health and safety issue
- How to manage an employee suffering from workplace stress
- Unwell employees and the disciplinary process
- Medical incapacity: When can an employer fairly cry halt to the employment relationship?
Presented by Ashley-Jayne Lodge, Partner, Anderson Lloyd and Lucy Gallagher, Law Clerk, Anderson Lloyd
10.50am to 11.35am Top 10 Mistakes in Managing Performance
- How to run a fair and reasonable performance management process
- How managers can help not hinder
- A look at the latest case law
Presented Gwen Drewitt, Special Counsel, Lane Neave
11.35am to 12.20pm Optimising the Performance of Your School Board: Practical Tips and Strategies from the Trenches
- What is the role of the Board and what should a Board be focused on?
- What does a high performing Board look like and how can you optimise Board performance?
- What are the key relationships and how to optimise those
- How to face the inevitable challenges
- How to future proof the Board
Presented by Madeleine Hawkesby, Special Counsel, Duncan Cotterill and part time Limited Statutory Manager and Commissioner
12.20pm to 1.05pm Understanding, Reviewing and Working with Privacy Policies, Processes and Guidelines
- Value of student information
- Compliance vs best practice
- Red flags
- Privacy by design
- Privacy Impact Assessments
Presented by Gareth Abdinor, Consultant, Taylor Shaw Barrister & Solicitors
3.45pm to 4.30pm Managing Social Media: Staff Misconduct, Engagement and Policies
- Staff misconduct on social media: What can you do?
- A staff member posts stories about their drunken weekend party, including questionable photos: What should you do?
- How far can you go in managing your staff’s social media activity?
- Inappropriate online interaction with students: from serious misconduct to the grey areas
- Social media policies: practical tips and example policy provisions
- Getting reluctant staff to appropriately engage in social media
- Relevant case law and examples
Presented by Ashleigh Inder, Senior Associate, Simpson Grierson
2.45pm to 3.30pm Schools and the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
- Health and safety outside of the classroom: what are schools’ obligations?
- What duties do schools owe to parent volunteers, teachers and students?
- What health and safety status do parent volunteers have?
- What happens when a school’s health and safety responsibilities overlap with another organisation’s health and safety responsibilities?
- Why is it important to have proper health and safety processes in place?
Presented by Amanda Douglas, Partner, Wynn Williams
2.00pm to 2.45pm Working Through Human Rights Issues in Schools
- Human rights as they might apply in schools
- The Human Rights Commission
- The Human Rights Review Tribunal
- The process
- Recent decisions
Presented by Shaun Brookes, Special Counsel, Buddle Findlay
4.30pm to 5.15pm Managing Your School’s Reputational Risk During a Crisis
Managing reputation by valuing transparency and keeping your school community informed is more effective than mopping up reputation damage after a crisis. Yet, in today’s fast paced, complex social media environment, a crisis of one kind or another is virtually inevitable – not an ‘if’ but ‘when’ scenario. When it happens, there is an immediate tension between keeping the community informed, protecting reputation and managing legal risk.
- Navigating defamation risk
- Privacy and young persons
- Communication restrictions in the context of Coronial and Court proceedings
- Name suppression
- The challenge of social media in managing reputation
- Planning for the crisis: practical steps
Presented by Jonathan Forsey, Special Counsel, Duncan Cotterill
Description
Attend the full day and earn 7 PLD hours
10.35am to 10.50am Morning Tea
3.30pm to 3.45pm Afternoon Tea
Session 1: Managing School Policies, Performance, and Employment
Chair: Bruce Kearney, Principal, Rangiora High School
Session 2: Real Risks Facing Schools Today: It's Not All About Bullying
Chair: Julie Calder, Principal, Selwyn House School
9.00am to 9.05am Opening Comments by the Chair
1.05pm to 1.15pm Final Q&A and Closing Comments by the Chair
Learning Objectives:
- Catch up on the latest education law updates and explore what this means for your school
- Consider best practice for managing workplace bullying, stress and medically unfit employees
- Gain practical insight on key employment contracts
- Receive valuable tips on how to optimize the performance of your school board
- Work through how to understand, review and work with privacy policies, processes and guidelines
Learning Objectives:
- Gain perspective on discrimination, LGBT and disability in the education sector
- Learn useful tips for managing heath and safety duties in schools
- Receive valuable advice on how best to manage social media, staff misconduct engagement and policies
- Work through how to manage your schools reputational risk during a crisis
Presenters
Gareth Abdinor, Director, Abdinor Employment Law
Gareth is an employment and workplace law expert, providing advice and guidance to business, organisations and workers on all aspects of the employment/contracting relationship. Gareth also provides specialist advice in relation to privacy & information law issues, including compliance, breaches, access, cyberbullying and social media. Gareth has extensive experience in the Education and Healthcare sectors, having acted for schools, educators, District Health Boards, medical practices and medical professionals in relation to dispute resolution, privacy and employment matters. Gareth is an experienced workplace investigator and regularly carries out independent workplace investigations.
Ms. 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.
Ms. Madeleine Hawkesby, Special Counsel, Duncan Cotterill
Madeleine is special counsel in the Christchurch employment law team at Duncan Cotterill. She enjoys working in collaboration with her clients to provide practical, strategic and solution focused advice. Her expertise covers all aspects of employment law, from disciplinary process, performance management, incapacity, investigations, restructuring, drafting employment agreements and policies, and mediations. Madeline has expertise in mediating and facilitating conflict resolution solutions between employees. She advises employers from a wide range of industries, and has particular expertise in the education sector where she not only advises on employment law matters but also has experience in privacy law, parent complaints, health and safety, student disciplinary matters, ombudsmen investigations, Official Information Act requests, performance appraisal, school governance and conflict resolution. Madeleine has been appointed by the Ministry of Education as a Limited Statutory Manager and as a Commissioner in a number of schools throughout the South Island.
Ms. Ashleigh Inder, Senior Associate, Simpson Grierson
Ashleigh advises on all aspects of employment and health and safety legal issues. She has recently returned to New Zealand after spending four and a half years in London as a senior lawyer in Macfarlanes LLP’s highly ranked employment law practice. Her extensive experience includes advising on disciplinary matters, performance management, restructures, negotiated exits, bonus/incentive schemes privacy requests, corporate transactions and day-to-day advisory work. Ashleigh regularly attends mediations and has appeared in the Employment Relations Authority. She also provides advice on workplace obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, officer duties, WorkSafe investigations, and notifiable events. Ashleigh provides timely, commercial and pragmatic advice to clients covering wide range of sectors, including financial services, technology, manufacturing, retail, property, media, advertising, marketing and aviation.
Lucy Gallagher, Solicitor, Anderson Lloyd
Lucy graduated from the University of Otago with a Bachelor of Laws with Honours (First Class) at the end of 2022 and was admitted to the Bar in December 2023. She initially joined Anderson Lloyd's employment law team as a summer clerk in 2020 and has since become a permanent member of the team, where she assists with a wide range of employment issues. Lucy prepares and presents at both internal and external seminars and has assisted in advising various clients, including public sector employers, employers in the aged care sector, organisations undergoing investigations and prosecutions by WorkSafe, and employers in need of assistance with disciplinary processes and negotiated exits.
Ashley-Jayne Lodge, Partner, Anderson Lloyd
Ashley-Jayne (AJ) advises clients in all aspects of employment law working with them to provide practical, pragmatic solutions to often complex employment issues. AJ can assist employers, employees, and HR professionals with all manner of employment advice, including day to day management of employees, restructures and redundancies, employee claims, advising on and providing representation in human rights matters, health and safety, and employment agreements and policies. AJ represents clients at mediations, in the Employment Relations Authority, Employment Court, and privacy, human rights and disciplinary jurisdictions as well. AJ is an experienced investigator, having conducted workplace investigations, reviews, and other independent investigations in both the public and private sector. AJ is a certified Association of Workplace Investigators member and Certificate Holder (AWI-CH).
Ms. Amanda Douglas, Partner, Wynn Williams
Amanda Douglas leads the Employment and Health and Safety practice at Wynn Williams. She acts on the full range of Employment Law matters, with a particular focus in the dispute resolution area. Amanda gets alongside clients to work on the best outcome for them. She and her team are recognised by Chambers and Legal 500 for their expertise in these areas, and she also frequently speaks at Employment and Health and Safety conferences.
Ms. Gwen Drewitt, Special Counsel, Lane Neave
Gwen is a Special Counsel in the Christchurch employment team. Gwen has particular expertise in employment and health & safety. Gwen acts for both employers and employees and enjoys getting to know clients and their businesses in order to deliver pragmatic advice that works for them. Gwen has substantial expertise and experience in a range of employment matters, including guiding clients through disciplinary, grievance and performance management processes. Advising on redundancies and restructures and providing assistance with settlement negotiations. Gwen also is experienced in assisting clients in Employment Authority proceedings and has appeared in the Employment Court. Gwen has practiced in the UK for several years; Gwen is also well placed to advise international clients on their employment law obligations.
Mr. Shaun Brookes, Special Counsel, Buddle Findlay
Shaun specialises in employment law, industrial relations, and health and safety, as well as dispute resolution and general litigation. He advises clients on a wide range of employment matters, including terminations, bullying, redundancy and restructuring, Holiday Act entitlements, and industrial relations. He regularly provides training and seminars on health and safety, employment, and privacy topics. Shaun also represents a number of councils on regulatory enforcement and prosecutions. He advises clients on health and safety matters and has experience with WorkSafe investigations and prosecutions. He is an experienced litigator and appears in the Employment Relations Authority and Employment Court, the District Court and High Court, and at mediation on behalf of clients.
Mr. 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’s 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.
Mr. Bruce Kearney, Principal, Rangiora High School
Bruce is currently in his second principalship of a secondary school in Canterbury. Previous to taking up the role at Rangiora High School in 2022 he held the position of Principal at Kaiapoi High School since 2011. He started out as a teacher of Commerce at multiple schools both in Canterbury and in Hamilton. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Canterbury, a Diploma of Teaching and a Postgraduate Diploma in Leadership also from Canterbury, and a Certificate in School Leadership from Harvard’s Postgraduate School of Education. He has presented at a number of conferences on two key areas of leadership: strategic planning and change management through changing mindsets.
