Employee Relation Specialist

Employee Relationship Specialist

3 Month Contract

Reading - Hybrid working - 1 or 2 days in the office per week

The Employee Relations team sits within our People Services and Delivery team, supporting all our employees throughout their end-to-end lifecycle, as well as the delivery of all people initiatives across our business.

We are seeking an Employee Relations Specialist to collaborate with our business and provide specialist advice and guidance on any people and ER issues.

You will manage a number of complex and high-risk ER cases, providing coaching and guidance to managers, whilst also providing insight on any case trends back into the wider People team. Case types include; disciplinaries, grievances, whistleblowing, absence and capability, performance, appeals, early conciliation and Employment Tribunals. Lower risk cases are managed by the Advisors in the team.

Responsibilities:

• Provide timely advice and support to line managers on medium-high risk/complexity people ER issues such as: disciplinaries, grievances, appeals, medium to long term sickness absence (up to and including capability dismissals), performance management, whistle-blowing claims, early conciliation and Employment Tribunals claims.
• Support the business in organisational changes that involve individual or collective consultation and may result in redundancy, TUPE or changing T&C's.
• Maintain accurate and up to date records of all actions and documentation relating to cases being managed through to conclusion.
• Establish strong working relationships with other teams in the People Team, in particular People Business Partners, HR Shared Services as well as business managers to develop an understanding of the business priorities.
• Identify trends in cases for the Head of/ER Lead so that insight is provided to managers, relevant training for line managers is provided and policy recommendations are made.
• Coach line managers, facilitate ER workshops and design/deliver ER training in order to develop ER capability within the organisation.
• Work in partnership with the Policy Manager, providing insight on our People Policies and Guidelines
• Support the development of the ER Advisors
• Reporting and analysis of case data to identify trends and insights
• Identify and deliver opportunities for continuous improvement to enhance our service offering to the business, improve customer experience and/or provide capacity.

Experience

• Proven experience within an Employee Relations role in a fast paced environment
• Experience in organisational change processes, for example redundancy and TUPE consultation
• Experience of managing high risk ER cases to conclusion
• Good understanding and application of employment legislation
• Ability to assess risks, articulate options and make fair decisions that meet the needs of the business
• Strong communication and listening skills, being comfortable in coaching, advising and influencing managers dealing with ER issues
• Strong team player who is confident and self-motivated
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with an ability to quickly develop a rapport and strong working relationships (both face to face and remotely), across all levels, within the wider People team and business. Including the ability to lead meetings, present and deliver training/briefings
• Strong organisational skills able to plan, prioritise and work under pressure with good attention to detail
• Ability to manage projects and deliver milestones/deadlines effectively
• Strong Microsoft skills including Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams

Project People is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.