ABSTRACT
The Education Reform Act of 1988 has delegated to headteachers and governors clear responsibility for tasks such as recruitment, deployment, discipline, redundancy and dismissal. The past two decades have seen increased teacher militancy supported by teacher unions and an escalating series of disputes which in many cases has placed headteachers in an uncertain position over where their allegiance lay. In addition, the task of managing staff has been made more complex by emerging legislation relating to matters such as fair employment, equal opportunity, discriminatory practice, sexual harassment, unlawful dismissal, and grievance procedures.
