Moorland School’s recent tribunal ruling highlights issues with staff redundancies and unpaid leave, leaving former employees seeking justice.
Clitheroe: Moorland School, located on Ribblesdale Avenue, went into liquidation last year, racking up over £1.7 million in debts. The school’s management claimed they were splitting the school into three separate entities: nursery, primary, and secondary.
In November, they told the Lancashire Telegraph they had worked hard to pay staff during the summer. But former employees, including a PE teacher and housemaster, said they were blindsided by sudden redundancy notices. This not only broke contracts but also left them out of pocket for unpaid annual leave.
One ex-employee, who didn’t get paid on July 31, started a formal complaint against the school after being left in the lurch. At an employment tribunal on January 9, the school was ordered to pay over £7,000 to one staff member for not giving proper notice, unpaid leave, and redundancy pay.
The redundancy payment alone was £1,192, while the lack of notice cost £3,580, and unpaid leave added another £2,384. The school didn’t even show up at the tribunal, and it was found they hadn’t properly informed staff about the redundancy risks.
One anonymous employee shared, “All staff were made redundant and asked to reapply for their jobs. I refused but was offered the same job under a new contract, which would have meant starting fresh without my service history.”
Judge Johnson noted that the claimant was warned about redundancy verbally but received no formal notification or consultation. In November, the school’s proprietor, Johnathan Harrison, cited the Covid pandemic and changes in VAT as reasons for the liquidation.
Interestingly, in 2022, Heathland Private School in Accrington also closed due to financial strain from the pandemic, and its directors run Moorland Nursery and School, which took in students from the closing school. Moorland School has yet to comment on the situation.
