I agree with you that there is no reason for the employee be offered ‘compensation’ for not being able to take advantage of giving a large amount of money each year back to their employer (albeit at a discounted rate).

Fairness doesn’t always mean everyone getting the same…!

In reply to Maya:

I have been researching this as naturally curious (it goes with being in HR) there is or seems to be acknowledgement that people who do not want/cant have/have had children feel that they are being treated less favourably. I wonder what will be next?
Benefits for the above group that excludes those with children? Sure that is discrimination too?
I am sure that this is going to be a topic that will need debate and consideration in our quest for treating everyone equally. As you say fairness doesn't mean the same!

It's not discrimination under the Equality Act, given that not having children is not a protected characteristic (although I accept that use of the the term 'discrimination' is not limited to how it is set out in legislation, but given that this relates to an employee being dissatisfied with this benefit, in the context of their own employment, that's why I refer back to the EA2010). Setting that aside - what the employee seems to fail to recognise is that in order to benefit from this discount, the employees who do choose to take it up need to pay the school fee (albeit at a lesser amount after the discount) i.e. they are incurring a financial outlay in order to utilise the discount provision. An employee who is not in this situation (whether because they don't have a child, their child is above school age, or because they have chosen to send their child to a different school - whether fee paying or otherwise) is not incurring the same financial outlay as the comparator employee (ie the one who has a child at the school), so there is no discount to be applied (i.e £0 less 10%discount of £0 still = £0). They are not disadvantaged or experiencing less favourable treatment. There is no detriment. They may feel that it is unfair (as people often do when they see someone else 'getting' something that they haven't got, and believe they are entitled to something equivalent), but that's their view - you don't need to share it. They are not 'owed' compensation.

In reply to Ann Simpson:

Thank you for taking the time to reply and very helpful.

It's a really interesting area, although I think your member of staff is going to quickly run out of road on this one. You offer a benefit to your staff which although generous, is specifically because you offer education to children. You can only offer the benefit because you offer the service. If you worked in a bakery but were allergic to flour (apart from the fact that you'd made a bizarre life choice) you wouldn't expect to be given fruit instead of discounted bread.

The problem here is the value of the benefit, because the cost of school fees is higher than bread. Case law has determined that the tax threshold on independent school fees where the benefit becomes taxable is at 85% - so as long as the individual contributes at least 15% of the normal school fees, HMRC have agreed that there is no additional cost to the school in delivering the service. It's a calculation that could be challenged one day, but it's become accepted through the sector for now.

It leads to some interesting situations - people who take jobs for low pay because the high-value benefit is worth it (when you think about having multiple children and you choose that type of education for example). Does that distort the reward structure more broadly? How can it be mitigated? Does the value of the benefit keep people from moving on at a point when they should do for their careers?

I don't have any easy answers. I worked in one independent school that got rid of school fee discounts completely and one (now) where they are a highly valued benefit. Finding the right level of discount and dealing with the issues that arise will be individual to the circumstances of each school, but I would be reasonably confident that a discrimination case would fail.

Good luck.

Nina (another one)

In reply to Nina Waters:

Thank you for your reply, benefits cant be fair for all, but I am sure that when you apply for a job that you would join an organisation that you feel you can contribute to and offers you rewarding career and benefits would be one of your considerations. As the world moves on at such a fast pace and we make great strives forward to try and treat everyone fairly, we have some challenges in HR to come. Parents and non-parents, flexible work and non flexible working to name but a few. Never a dull moment though!