What works best for your school?

Having worked with many schools, academies and MATs over the years, we know that each school has very specific HR needs depending on their internal resource and expertise, relationships with existing suppliers and HR systems in use. Because of this, we have developed a range of HR options from a core contracts administration service to full HR support and specialist consultancy services.

HR support falls into two main areas; HR Advisory and HR Administration. Our Advisory service gives you access to education HR exerts when you need then and covers a wide range of services from strategic support through to specific casework.

Our HR Administration provides both fully managed and self-service options to managing the administration associated with HR.

HR Advisory

There is more to HR than just administration, and our HR Advisory service combines strategic HR advice with practical casework support. We will work with you to review your HR strategy, systems and processes to ensure you are compliant and efficient. Our team will keep you up to speed on any changes that will affect your school and are always available to provide specific advice and support on particular areas or cases.

Our HR Advisory service is based on a monthly cost per employee and includes;

  • HR Audit - an initial desktop audit of the school/trusts current position in relation to HR to help you tailor your HR strategy
  • Provision of advice and guidance on changes to employment legislation
  • Advice and support on policy and procedures, including terms and conditions of employment
  • Casework - provide advice and support on all employee-related matters (disciplinary, capability, conduct, absence management, grievance, family-friendly such as maternity etc.)
  • Advice and support regarding Safeguarding issues (0800 - 1700 Monday - Friday)
  • Policy and procedure support and advice – ensuring legal compliance and fit for purpose
  • Access to telephone and email support/advice (0800 - 17.00 Monday - Friday)
  • Advice and support on staff recruitment
  • Support with TUPE/Restructure/Onsite and or virtual meetings is also available (additional charges may apply)
  • HR Audit - a desktop audit of the school/trust's current position in relation to HR to help you tailor your HR strategy (additional charges may apply)
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HR Administration

There is a lot of administration around HR contracts and documentation. We aim to make this process as efficient and straightforward as possible. We can take on this process for you and provide a fully managed service, or you can use our self-service option through the VERA Document Management module.

A Managed HR Administration Service

Let our team take away the complex and time-consuming administration surrounding HR.
Our Managed HR Administration service is charged monthly and calculated on a per-
employee basis.

We will manage all HR administration tasks for you, including;

  • Administration of employment contracts
  • Variation letters (change in hours, maternity, paternity etc.)
  • Leavers

You provide the Dataplan HR Team with templates (contacts/letters), and we produce the documents for you and upload them to the VERA portal. Simple.

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Self Service through VERA Document Management

Our HR Information system, VERA, holds a significant amount of contractual data about your employees. By combining your contract templates and letterhead with the data we hold on VERA, our Document Management module gives you the ability to effectively manage your HR contracts and documents, including;

  • Contracts of employment
  • Variation letters
  • Leaver letters
  • Maternity letters
  • Health questionnaire
  • Absence management letters

Third Party Services

Following requests from our clients for associated services to our core HR solutions, we now have several additional services provided through trusted partners. These are available as and when you need them, with no subscription of minimum commitment.

Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS)

  • Access to DBS portal
  • Charged on a case by case basis on your regular monthly invoice
  • Training videos and PDF’s provided through the portal
  • No setup fee

Occupational Health Services

Access to a full range of Occupational Health services, including;

  • New starter questionnaires and assessments
  • Access to an Occupational Health Advisor
  • Access to an Occupational Health Physician
  • Telephone and Face to face assessments
  • Training videos and user guides
  • No setup fee
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Why choose Dataplan Education for your HR services?

Payroll and HR are becoming increasingly intertwined. Not only through legislation and compliance but also through the use of shared data. Dataplan Education manages payrolls for over 850 schools, academies, and MATs across the UK, and our VERA portal holds data from payroll and pension management that is essential to HR.

Flexible & Tailored Services

Our HR services are designed to fit your needs and current resources. Many schools need help with their HR administration, which can be demanding and highly time-consuming; others need specific support with a case or project.

Our services have been designed to be used singly, or they can be combined. For tasks such as DBS checks and Occupational Health, that are only needed occasionally, you can buy them just when you need them.

For Dataplan payroll clients, we will simply add the cost of your HR services onto your monthly bill.

Information Security

The HR data held on employees is highly sensitive and personal. Dataplan is committed to providing the highest levels of data and information security to protect the personal data we have as part of our payroll, pension and HR services. We are certified to ISO27001, demonstrating that Dataplan follows information security best practices.

We even go a stage further than ISO27001 and undertake an ISAE 3402 Type 2 External Audit carried out by independent auditors. This is designed to give our clients assurance over the design, implementation and operating effectiveness of our internal controls.

Greater Efficiency

Are your HR processes as efficient as you would like them to be? Are you duplicating effort, or are there any gaps in your policies? What about your longer-term strategic view of HR?

For busy schools, especially those with little in-house HR resources, these are questions that are often overlooked in the day-to-day activity of running a school. Our HR Advisory service provides an independent, expert view and knowledge that identifies areas that could be improved and streamlined.