I don’t think there is much of a grey area where it comes to this statement but in our latest episode of the UK Law Weekly podcast there is an argument presented to the Supreme Court that the safeguarding duty doesn’t apply when the headteacher is best friends with a convicted paedophile and didn’t think to tell anyone!

Spoiler alert: she lost that case in every single court and tribunal.

There is an interesting legal principle at stake here though.

If we think of tort law there is no liability for an omission but what about when dealing with an employment contract? Would it be fair for your employer to start implying terms into your contract that you haven’t signed up for?

Getting that balance right between not dismissing employees unfairly and setting minimum standards of conduct can be difficult.

In the episode I talk about how the classic case of British Home Stores v Burchell [1978] can help resolve this dilemma although, let’s be honest, there aren’t too many difficulties when the local headteacher is friends with a sex offender.

Episode link: https://uklawweekly.com/2018-uksc-16/
Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/uk-law-weekly/id1137316725?mt=2

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Marcus