Welcome to Employment Law for Local Councils

Local councils cannot survive without their employees. The many activities that local councils can undertake demand people to carry them out and even in the smallest town, parish or community council a clerk will be appointed to undertake these varied duties.

Local councils have a significant propensity for employment problems, often through ignorance or a reluctance to adopt modern practices and meet the legal requirements. Getting it wrong can be expensive, and one only has to consider the innumerable reasons an employee can use to take a case in the Employment Tribunal to realise that either good insurance or good practice and procedures are an imperative.

This website on Employment Law for Local Councils is written, and will be updated, specifically to address the particular employment requirements of local councils and to assist clerks with their day to day responsibilities for managing their employees, and for members who jointly have responsibilities as employers.

As with so much legislation employment law is a moveable feast. New legislation, guidance and the results of court and Employment Tribunal cases bring new developments to the subject and we aim to ensure subscribers will be kept informed and up to date with new and amended material being added as it becomes available.

Vic Quayle
Managing Editor
Guildford, June 2009