One of East Lancashire’s leading private schools was forced to pay more than £7,000 to a former employee for numerous contract breaches.
Moorland School, based in Ribblesdale Avenue, Clitheroe, liquidated last year, with its Companies House listing revealing it had more than £1.7 million of debts.
Bosses claimed the reason for liquidating was so that Moorland School Limited could be split into three different entities; the nursery, primary and secondary.
In November the school assured the Lancashire Telegraph it had even gone to great lengths to pay staff over the summer months.
However, former staff members including a music teacher and housemaster said redundancy was presented to them suddenly and with no prior warning, not only breaching contracts but costing employees thousands of pounds in unpaid annual leave.
Having heard nothing from the school, one former employee was not paid on July 31 and at that point began a formal process against the school.
At a recent employment tribunal, on January 9, the school was ordered to pay more than £7,000 to one staff member for failure to give the correct notice period, unpaid and untaken annual leave and redundancy payment.
The bill for redundancy payment totalled £1,192, whilst failing to provide a correct notice period cost £3,580 and the unpaid annual leave was charged at £2,384.
Despite not appearing at the tribunal, the school was found to have not warned staff members of the risk of redundancy and no formal notification was provided.
The employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “All staff were made redundant and asked to reapply for their jobs.
“I refused to do this but was offered the same job under a new contract, as that would’ve meant they didn’t owe me the year redundancy and notice period, and would have meant I was starting the year again in September as a fresh member of staff with no service history.”
This same offer had been presented to all staff besides senior leadership, of whom some accepted.
In his report, Judge Johnson said: “The claimant was warned on July 26, 2024, by Jane Thornton of the respondent that he was at risk of redundancy.
“No formal notification of his being at risk of redundancy or a proposed date of redundancy was given.
“No formal consultation took place and although the claimant was told verbally he could apply for a job with the new organisation managing the Moorland School, no formal notification was given to him.”
In November, the proprietor at Moorland School Johnathan Harrison blamed the Covid pandemic and the change in VAT on private schools, which did not come into force until this year, as the reasons for the liquidation.
In 2022, Heathland Private School in Accrington wrote to parents telling them the school and nursery would be closing and blamed 'financial strain' due to the strain of the pandemic.
The directors of Heathland also run Moorlands Nursery and School and it took on pupils from the closing school.
Moorland School was contacted for comment.
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