Employee Relations Manager

Employee Relations Manager

Location: Ashford

There is a requirement to work cross site as/when required in the local area

Job Type: Temporary

Duration of booking: This is a temporary ongoing role with no end date specified at this stage

Proposed start date: ASAP

Sector: Healthcare

Base: Hospital

Band: 8A

Pay Rates:

£27.00 to £30.50 paye inclusive per hour as per the client’s direct engagement model

Working Days and Hours: Monday to Friday, 9am-5.30pm

Remote working option: Minimum 3 days on site, specific days to be discussed and agreed

Job Summary

• The post holder will act as the ER subject matter expert and cultural change agent for employee relations, supporting the Trust to implement and embed a Just Restorative, value’s based and person-centred approach to how we manage all areas of employee relations casework feeding into the development of our people managers and HR practitioners.
• The post holder will lead the Employee Relationship team, ensuring that concerns and complaints are expertly triaged, and HR Investigations are completed to a high standard in a timely manner and that systems are in place to mitigate conscious and unconscious bias.
• The post holder will develop a practice of learning, feedback, and quality improvement on managing employee relations matters, working with the leadership teams, learning and development and HRBP colleagues to contribute to the development of people management capability across the Trust.
• This role will ensure an up-to-date policy framework is in place for managing employee relations matters ensuring policies are fit for purpose and underpin our values and aims of compassionate inclusive people management.
• The post holder will ensure the optimum use of the case management system, generating reports and key performance data on a regular basis.
• The post holder will lead on the management of the Job Evaluation process.
• This role will manage ER project strands as requested by the Director and Deputy Director of HR and OD.

Duties

• Act as the subject matter expert for employee relations providing input and advice to people managers, ER team, HR and OD team, and mentoring/coaching as necessary.
• Ensure the provision of advice and support on all aspects of employee relations including disciplinary, grievance, sickness and absence management, capability, MHPS and employment tribunals.
• Ensure the provision of robust timely advice, coaching and support to investigating officers and/or people managers in writing initial assessment and ER reports, and their use at formal hearings.
• Manage a caseload of highly complex ER cases, with minimal supervision and provide advice on panels up to and including dismissal.
• Support the management of highly complex employment relations cases, including those involving medical staff, providing expert advice on policy, procedure, and technical points of employment law.
• Ensure the delivery of robust, balanced, and timely investigations outcomes to serious and/ or complex, misconduct cases, including allegations of bullying, harassment, and discrimination.
• Build collaborative working relationships with key stakeholders, including people managers, staff side, staff network leads, Freedom to Speak Up guardians, Occupational Health, and HR colleagues, ensuring flexibility and multiple pathways and points of access to conflict resolution support.
• Research, consult, benchmark, draft and implement best practice policies, templates procedures, guidelines, and toolkits in line with employment legislation and organisational requirements.
• Develop branding and communication strategies and effectively use a variety of communication channels, and mediums to promote and raise awareness of the employee relations service, tools, policies, guidance, implementation and embedding of the Just Restorative principles into the ER service.
• Lead on continuous improvement, practice reflection, peer review and CPD in employee relations for the ER and HRBP team, ensuring appropriate mechanisms and forums are in place to enable this.
• Monitor and report on data, and analysis around case themes, outcomes, and delivery against KPIs monthly.
• Lead on responding to Employment Tribunal claims, in collaboration with the Deputy Director.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience

• CIPD Associate/Chartered Member Status or equivalent level of experience
• Specialist expertise in Employee Relations matters acquired to Master’s level / equivalent through additional training and / or equivalent experience
• Considerable experience of working in a complex, unionised organisation
• Considerable experience of leading and managing a complex and varied Employee Relations case load, including the resolution of complex absence, MHPS, disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence and capability cases, including dismissal and appeal.
• Experience of writing and implementing HR policies and procedures, facilitating, and managing change in organisational policy /HR practice.
• Experience of providing HR advice on formal hearing panels to a high standard.
• Understanding and experience of using HR Metrics
• Extensive experience of working in partnership with Trades Unions