Employee Handbook

Our Strategic Vision

As we look to the future we want to equip our pupils with the tools, skills and attributes that they will need to achieve and thrive. Our pupils will need inquisitive minds, familiarity and facility with technology, to be confident and articulate communicators and to be lifelong learners.

A King’s education instils strong values, a global outlook and an empathetic and open-minded approach. It seeks to develop the whole person, through a parallel focus on academic excellence and aspiration alongside co-curricular enrichment and inspiration. Our vision is rooted in this commitment to a holistic education which is both academically ambitious and broad in scope.

Our aims: Belong, Engage, Connect and Thrive

We intend for every King’s Pupil to:

The success of our pupils will be underpinned by two enablers; People and Resources.

We recognise the crucial role played by our people, regardless of role or level. We want to attract the best possible people to work with us, and then support them to develop to their full potential. We wish to draw upon the talent and ideas of our entire staff body in seeking to create a culture where all are valued, and all are invested in the ongoing development of the school.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

The King’s School is committed to promoting equality of opportunity. We aim to ensure that no applicant or employee is unfairly discriminated against.

As an employee you also have a personal responsibility to adhere to the principles of equality and equal opportunity. We will ensure that employees receive training to promote equality and to prevent bullying, discrimination and harassment in the workplace.

SAFEGUARDING REQUIREMENTS

Individual Responsibilities

All employees have a role to play in safeguarding children. As part of the onboarding process, you were provided with safeguarding training and provided with safeguarding policies to read, including the statutory guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have read and understood these documents.

School Responsibilities

The school has a statutory responsibility to appoint Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL) and to have in place appropriate safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures. The school must ensure that all adults know who their safeguarding lead is and the appropriate procedures to follow if they have concerns in respect of the welfare of a student. Details of DSLs are displayed at each site.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Health & Safety

The Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) places obligations on employers to ensure that measures are taken to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of employees. The school has in place appropriate risk assessments and training. Equally, as an employee you also have a duty to take care of your own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by your actions at work.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Checks

The school has a statutory obligation to ensure that all employees are suitable to work with children and therefore do not pose a risk of harm. All new appointments will be subject to an enhanced DBS check, barred list check and where appropriate a prohibition from teaching check. You are required to notify your manager immediately of any convictions, cautions, reprimands, police enquiries or pending prosecutions which arise during your employment with the school. You will also be asked to complete an annual self-declaration

confirming there has been no change to your DBS status. The school reserve the right to undertake DBS re-checks at any time.

‘Right to Work’

In accordance with current UK Immigration legislation, the school must ensure that all employees are entitled to work in the UK. It is a mandatory condition of your employment that you comply with all reasonable requests from the school to provide the evidence to enable it to comply with these requirements.

JOINING KING’S

Induction

The overall purpose of the local induction is to ensure that all employees joining or moving within the school quickly feel part of the organisation and their team and develop the skills required to fulfil the requirements of their role. Your induction will:

• Quickly familiarise you with working practices, systems and procedures.

• Provide an introduction to colleagues and key people within the organisation.

• Provide an opportunity to review the requirements of your role with your manager and identify any support that you may need.

Probation Procedure

The Probation Procedure applies to new employees appointed to a permanent contract or temporary contract of six months or more. The purpose of the procedure is to ensure all employees are fully supported during the initial months of employment with the school. All employees will be required to complete a minimum probation period of 6 months.

KEY CONTACTS

IT: helpdesk@kings-school.co.uk

HR: hr@kings-school.co.uk

Payroll: payroll@kings-school.co.uk

Pensions: pension@kings-school.co.uk

DURING EMPLOYMENT

Salary and Payments

Salary payments will be made into bank accounts on the following days each month:

15th Teaching Staff / 28th Support Staff

Payment is made calendar monthly up to the last day of the month. If the normal pay date falls on a weekend or public holiday payment will be made on the nearest preceding working day.

iTrent

iTrent is the school’s integrated HR and Payroll system. When you joined the school, you were given the details that you need to log in to the Employee Self Service (ESS). This is where you can access interactive payslips and P60s. You can also update your address details, book annual leave (if eligible) and submit time claims for payment. This is also where family leave notifications can be submitted.

ITrent is also where you will find the Company News Carousel and a whole host of useful information, from HR polices and procedures, to details of the benefits available to you as an employee of King’s.

Pension Schemes

All employees of the school will be offered the opportunity to contribute to the defined contribution scheme with Royal London. The Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) is also available to Academic members of staff. Teachers who wish to join the TPS post 01.09.24 will be required to enter into a salary reduction scheme to join the TPS.

The Royal London Scheme offers the following benefits:

• Relief at source option where 20% Tax relief is claimed on your contributions.

• Salary Exchange option if earning more than £24,000 pa allowing you to benefit from PAYE and NI savings.

• No restrictions on employee contributions, minimum contribution 4% or 7.5% for Teaching Staff.

• Employer contributions maximum 10% Support Staff and 22% Teaching Staff.

• A death benefit for nominated beneficiaries on the policy holder’s death.

• Profit Share where profits will be shared amongst qualifying policy holders, boosting pension savings.

• Wide range of investment options available.

• Low management charges 0.25%.

• Employer National Insurance saving redirected to employee pension scheme, boosting pension savings (Salary Exchange option only).

The Teachers’ Pension scheme offers the following benefits:

• Income Tax relief on your contributions.

• Employees pay contributions on a sliding scale.

• Ill health benefits if you become too ill to teach.

• Option of Phased Retirement allowing teachers to keep working in a reduced capacity.

• Financial protection for your family and other dependants after you die.

• A regular income after you retire and the right to tax-free lump sum payment.

• Death in service grant three times FTE salary

All Teachers are contractually enrolled into their chosen scheme from day one of employment. New Teachers who join the TPS after September 2024, agree that their membership will be subject to adjustments to their salary. These adjustments may match but not exceed employer contributions over 23.68%. Teachers may elect to withdraw from the TPS and join the Royal London scheme at any time, subject to giving 8 weeks’ notice. Please contact pensions@kings-school.co.uk for more information.

All Support employees will be auto enrolled into the Royal London pension scheme when auto enrolment criteria is met. Alternatively, if you do not meet auto enrolment criteria but would like to join the scheme you may choose to do so at any time.

Pension contributions are taken directly from salary. The level of contributions will depend on the scheme and how much you earn. Salary Exchange option through Royal London will be automatically offered to employees earning more than £24,000.

If you decide to opt out of the pension scheme you may be able to claim back your contributions if you meet the qualifying criteria. However, you may voluntarily re-join the pension at any point. All employees not in a scheme will be automatically enrolled every 3 years.

More information about the pension schemes offered by the school can be accessed via the following websites:

Royal London: www.royallondon.com

Teachers’ Pensions: www.teacherspensions.co.uk

Life Assurance

All employees have the benefit of Life Assurance in the form of benefits paid to beneficiaries in the event of death during service.

For Teachers in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, this is a minimum of 3 times annual salary dependent on membership.

For Teachers and Support staff in the Royal London Scheme the benefit is 3 times annual salary plus the final year of salary as per the most recent P60. The scheme is administered by Legal and General.

Hours of Work

Your hours of work will be detailed in your contract of employment and any subsequent amendments. Local arrangements for lunch breaks will be confirmed by your manager.

Out of Hours/Lone Working

If you are alone in the office, either early or late in the day, you should make the Porter’s Lodge aware that you are on site:

Porter’s Lodge: 01227 595610 Ext 5610

Emergency

In the event of an out of hours emergency contact:

Security 07880 173933

Premises 07775 560360

ANNUAL LEAVE

Teachers

Teacher’s entitlements to annual leave are offset against school closure periods. The leave year for Teachers runs from 1st September to 31st August.

Support

The leave year for support employees is 1st September to 31st August.

If you work on a term time only basis your holiday entitlement will be paid as a percentage in addition to your basic salary. There will be no entitlement to annual leave as time taken off.

If you work full year, you will have a leave entitlement that can be taken as days off. Requests for leave should be submitted to your manager via I-Trent and will be granted depending on the needs of the service. In some instances, you will be advised that you are required to take annual leave during school closure periods.

The Early May Bank Holiday is a normal working day for all employees. If you wish to take leave on this day you will need to book the day with manager authorisation.

MEALS

Lunch (during term time) is provided at no cost to all employees (with the exception of the Sports Centre) who work at least 5 hours a day.

DRESS CODE

There is an expectation that you will dress professionally and wear clothing that is practical and appropriate. Clothes should not have inappropriate images or logos.

Some departments will have their own specific uniform and dress code requirements dependent on roles and responsibilities. All departments with uniforms offer breathable versions.

EXPENSES

Approval should be sought in advance of incurring expenses. You are entitled to reimbursement for costs in respect of travel, subsistence or other expenses incurred in the course of your business with the school. Claims, which will require line manager authorisation, can be submitted via the Finance Department.

PARKING

On site parking will be allocated dependent on availability. Parking is a noncontractual benefit and there is no automatic entitlement to an allocation.

You may only park on your allocated site and permits must be displayed at all times. Parking outside of your working hours or use of a vehicle which isn’t preregistered will result in issue of a penalty.

SMOKING

Smoking of cigarettes and e-cigarettes is not permitted on any of the school sites. Any employee who wishes to smoke must do so during official break periods and away from the premises or in designated smoking areas.

SOCIAL MEDIA

The school recognises that there are many benefits attributed to the use of social media and that most employees will utilise various social media platforms. However, to protect the interests of all parties, you should be mindful regarding

of your interactions on social media. You should not post any comments about the school or pupils which could breach confidentiality or bring yourself or the organisation into disrepute.

When using social media you should ensure that you act in line with the school’s Social Media Policy.

ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

The school provides IT facilities for you to use in the course of your work. You are required to sign an Acceptable Use Policy which sets out expectations in respect of internet, email and on-line behaviour. The use of equipment is monitored to detect inappropriate use.

SICKNESS BENEFITS

Teachers

Entitlement calculated on a rolling year

1st to 3rd Year of employment

4th year of employment onwards

4 months full pay 8 months half pay

6 months full pay 6 months half pay

Length of Service

Entitlement calculated on a rolling year 1st and 2nd year of employment

year of employment

SICKNESS REPORTING

If you’re unwell and unable to attend for work, you must notify your manager following local reporting procedures.

Absences of more than seven days must be covered by a GP certificate. Please note that if you are absent directly before and after a weekend or school holiday you will be required to provide a certificate to cover the whole period.

THE SICKNESS ABSENCE PROCEDURE

The Sickness Absence Procedure sets out trigger scores to support the routine management of absence. When a trigger is met you may be invited to attend a meeting with your manager. The meeting will be an opportunity to discuss any issues that you may be having and any support that you can be offered. Your manager may also refer you to Occupational Health.

If you are absent because of sickness, you should expect that your manager will maintain contact with you to ascertain your well-being and to keep you up to date with any issues at school. Such contact is intended to provide reassurance and will be kept to a reasonable minimum.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

The school uses the services of an Occupational Health Provider to promote and maintain the health and well-being of employees and to ensure a positive relationship between work and health.

MEDICAL/DENTAL APPOINTMENTS

The expectation is that wherever possible appointments are scheduled outside of the school day or at such a time that causes the minimum amount of disruption. Time taken off for appointments (and not made up) will be recorded as sickness absence.

FAMILY FRIENDLY POLICIES

The school seeks to support employees and their families wherever possible and offers enhanced parental leave benefits.

Maternity/Adoption

If you are pregnant or adopting, we will provide you with the following support:

• Time off for ante-natal care/pre-placement appointments

• Maternity Leave/Adoption Leave

• Enhanced occupational Maternity/Adoption Pay

The maternity/adoption leave entitlements are 52 weeks, comprising 26 weeks of ordinary maternity leave and 26 weeks of additional maternity leave.

To qualify for statutory maternity/adoption pay you must have been employed by the school continuously for a period of at least 26 weeks by the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth (EWC) or matching week and earn above the current lower earnings limit.

If you are the father of an unborn child or the partner (including same sex partner) of a pregnant woman, you may take paid time off work to accompany the woman to up to two of her antenatal appointments. “Partner” includes the spouse or civil partner of the pregnant woman and a person (of either sex) in a long-term relationship with her.

If you are the secondary adopter and not accessing adoption leave and/or pay you may take paid time off to attend two pre-placement appointments.

Paternity Leave

Paid paternity leave can be taken by employees who meet the eligibility

criteria set out in the Paternity Policy. The school has enhanced the statutory entitlement and pays full contractual pay for the two weeks which can be taken at any point during the first year after the baby’s birth.

Shared Parental Leave & Pay

Shared Parental Leave enables eligible parents to choose how to share leave to care for their child during the first year following birth or adoption. In addition, parents may also choose to curtail existing maternity or adoption benefits to access Shared Parental Pay (ShPP).

To qualify for shared parental leave and/or pay you must have been employed for a period of not less than 26 weeks ending with the week immediately preceding the 15th week before the Expected Week of Childbirth (EWC)/ matching week. One parent must have qualified for either statutory maternity or adoption benefits and ended the benefit in order to commence Shared Parental Leave and/or Pay.

Subject to the eligibility criteria being met, parents may choose to share up to 50 weeks of Parental Leave and 37 weeks of Shared Parental Pay (ShPP).

Dependents & Compassionate Leave

All employees have a right to unpaid leave to deal with emergencies relating to dependents. Dependents are defined as:

‘A husband, wife, civil partner, child or someone living in the employee’s household as a member of their family or any person who reasonably relies on the employee for assistance as their primary carer.’

This right is intended to cover unforeseen matters. If you know in advance that you are going to need time off, you will either need to submit a request for unpaid leave or annual leave if you are a full year employee. Requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis and will be granted dependent on the needs of the school.

Flexible Working

The right to request flexible working is a day one entitlement. A maximum of two applications may be made in any 12-month period. A request may be made to amend the following terms of employment:

• Total number of hours worked

• Times at which hours are worked

• Place of work

While there is not an automatic right to flexible working the school acknowledges the benefits of flexible working and as such all requests will be given full consideration.

POLICIES & PROCEDURES

Employee Code of Conduct

The school has a Code of Conduct which clearly sets out the expectations for all employees in term of standards of professional conduct. There is an expectation that employees will, at all times act in the best interests of the school, their colleagues and pupils.

Disciplinary Procedure

The school has a disciplinary procedure which sets out clear procedures for dealing with issues of misconduct in a fair and consistent way that complies with employment legislation. The procedure applies to all employees with the exception of those who are in their probationary period.

Grievances

There may be circumstances in which misunderstandings or grievances may arise. If you have a question or grievance about anything at work that concerns you personally and directly, you should discuss the matter informally with your manager in the first instance. If you are unable to resolve the matter informally you may raise a grievance formally in line with the Grievance procedure.

Bullying, Harassment or Discrimination at Work

Bullying or harassment is behaviour that makes someone feel intimidated or offended; harassment, including sexual harassment is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010.

Bullying may be characterised as offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, an abuse or misuse of power through means that undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient.

Harassment is unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that individual.

Sexual harassment is a particular form of harassment. It is conduct at work directed towards an employee by another employee or group of employees which is of a sexual nature, or which is based on a person’s sex or sexual orientation or gender reassignment, and which is regarded as unwelcome or offensive to the recipient.

The school is committed to ensuring that no harassment or victimisation at work, whatever the motivation, is overlooked or condoned. Such behaviour can range from extreme forms such as violence or bullying to less obvious actions like practical jokes and ridiculing colleagues or subordinates. Conduct becomes harassment if it persists after the recipient has made clear that it is regarded as

offensive, although a single offensive act can amount to harassment if it is so serious as to be obviously offensive towards the recipient.

We aim to create a work environment which is free from discrimination. If you are ever subjected to harassment by anyone in the workplace it is very important that you bring this to the attention of your manager as soon as possible. We will take all reasonable steps to prevent our employees being subjected to any harassment in the course of their work.

Whistleblowing

Whistleblowing is the term used to describe reporting by employees or exemployees, of wrongdoing on the part of management, Governors or by fellow employees. Wrongdoing may include for example, fraud, corruption, malpractice, breach of health and safety law, or any other illegal or unethical act. The Public Interest Disclosure Act (1998) offers the Whistle-blower protection from detriment and unfair dismissal. The school will support and not discriminate against any employee who raises a concern via the Whistleblowing procedure, provided any claim is made in good faith.

DATA PROTECTION

The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) 2018 apply to any data, in any format, that can directly or indirectly identify a person. The Regulations set out several key principles which govern how organisations must process data. In line with the regulations the school may only process personal data when it has a legal basis to do so.

The school will only obtain and hold data about you that it requires for the purpose of managing its business and dealing with you as an employee of that business. Data will be retained as necessary during your employment and records will be retained for up to six years after the date that you leave the employment of the school. Data will be kept in secure systems whether manual or computerised all times.

The appropriate management of data and data security is the responsibility of not only the school but also its employees. It is expected that all employees will comply with the school’s policies and procedures in respect of data protection.

All of the policies detailed above can be accessed via iTrent Employee Self Service (ESS).

WELLBEING

The School offers a number of benefits to support the mental, physical and social and financial wellbeing of employees:

Employee Assistance Programme

The School partners with Health Assured to offer a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme. The programme offers a number of wellbeing services including a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week helpline service and the option to access up to 6 sessions of counselling.

The service can be accessed on 0800 028 0099.

Counselling

A school based counselling service is available at no cost during term time. counselling@kings-school.co.uk

The Sports Centre

All employees have gold membership with access to the pool, gym and other facilities.

Medical Insurance

Fully comprehensive medical insurance is available for eligible employees.

Fee Remission

A King’s school fee remission scheme is available to eligible employees.

Cycle Scheme

The school operate a salary sacrifice cycle scheme which could provide savings of up to 40% dependent on salary and cycle cost.

Eye Care

Regular VDU users can receive a financial contribution towards the cost of both eye tests and glasses.

Financial Advice

The school facilitates regular free and impartial financial advice for employees.

Full details of all of the available benefits can be found on iTrent Employee Self Service (ESS).

LEAVING THE SCHOOL

If you decide to leave the school, it’s important that your working relationship continues as normally as possible during this period to enable an effective handover.

You need to give your manager your resignation in writing, detailing the appropriate amount of contractual notice as contained in your contract of employment. Before your last day you will need to return any property allocated to you during your employment, including any IT equipment, keys, car park and site passes.

Exit Interviews

During your notice period you will be offered a confidential exit interview with HR at which you can discuss your employment and reasons for leaving. The information provided will not prejudice future employment references and will only be used in general analysis to improve future recruitment and retention practices.

Final Payment

Any final payments of salary and expenses will be paid to you in the normal way, less any deductions due to the school. Once all final payments have been made, you will need to access the final pay slip via ESS on iTrent. You will be sent any relevant statutory forms such as your P45.

References

References provided will be factual and accurate. All schools have a statutory duty to share information which will safeguard children and any ‘live’ disciplinary sanctions or details of safeguarding allegations will be disclosed. Any future reference requests must be directed to the Head/Principal (if a teacher) or to the Department Lead (if support staff). Open references will not be provided.

KING’S SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS

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