Employee Relations Consultant

Hastings Direct; Bexhill-on-Sea; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible hybrid working

Annual bonus

Life assurance 4x salary

Pension contributions up to 10%

Discounts and cashback

Health and wellbeing programs

25 days annual leave + bank holidays

Job summary

Hastings Direct in the UK is recruiting an Employee Relations Consultant to support a hybrid working model in Leicester or Bexhill. You will partner with business leaders, coach on ER matters, and manage complex casework in a regulated insurance environment.

The role focuses on handling organisational change, policy application, and consistent decision-making to support both business and people strategies. Equality and inclusion are central to our approach.

Qualifications

• Strong employee relations experience in regulated environments such as insurance or financial services.
• Experience guiding organisations through change with redeployment principles and risk minimisation.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment.
• Proven track record in collective and individual consultation with unions.
• Understanding of Employment Rights Act in practical ER advice.

Responsibilities

• Partner with your aligned business area to deliver commercial and people outcomes via coaching, ER expertise and change initiatives.
• Lead end-to-end employee relations casework, advising and coaching leaders on best practices for fair outcomes.
• Identify and highlight trends from casework to support leadership with risk and improvement actions.
• Coach leaders to apply policies and processes for consistent, fair decisions.
• Provide insightful reporting on ER activity to senior management.

Skills

Employee relations

Organisational change

Regulatory compliance

Coaching leaders

Trade unions experience

Job description

Job Title: Employee Relations Consultant Location: Leicester or Bexhill (hybrid)

Welcome to Hastings Direct - Pam Angel (HR Director) We’re a digital insurance provider with ambitious plans to become The Best and Biggest in the UK market. We’ve made huge investments in our data and tech capabilities over the past few years, along with nurturing our 4Cs culture. We’re proud of the journey we’re on as a company and know that our continued success will rely on the contribution of our talented colleagues. We provide insurance for over four million customers, but we know there’s even bigger opportunity out there. The fact you’re now reading this job advert means we’ve tempted you to find out more about #lifeatHD – we really hope you like what you see, and you’ll join us to share in the success of the exciting chapter that lies ahead. We understand some people may not apply for jobs unless they feel they tick every box. If you’re excited about joining us and think you have some of what we’re looking for, even if you’re not 100% sure we would love to hear from you.

Role overview

As one of our Employee Relations Consultants within HR, you’ll be aligned to a specific business area and work closely with our leaders, working autonomously to support and coach leaders on colleague issues, with a strong focus on managing risk, driving consistency and enabling effective organisational change. You’ll be proactive and play an active role in supporting both our commercial objectives and our people strategy in a dynamic and fast-moving environment.

Job details

• Partnering with your aligned business area and supporting the delivery of agreed commercial and people outcomes through informed coaching, employee relations expertise and change initiatives
• Proactively working with our leaders to drive early identification and resolution of issues across core areas
• Coaching leaders to understand and apply agreed policies and processes, ensuring we’re supporting consistent and fair decision making
• Managing employee relations casework end-to-end, including advising and coaching leaders on best practices to achieve fair and reasonable outcomes for both colleagues and the business
• Identifying and highlighting trends emerging from casework in order to support the leadership team in addressing key risk and improvement areas, providing effective and insightful reporting
• Overall management of complex employee relations matters in a highly regulated, fast-paced environment

Essential skills/experience

• Strong experience within Employee Relations within a highly regulated environment (such as insurance, financial services etc.)
• Must have experience in supporting companies through periods of organisational change; proven ability and experience in planning, leading and supporting organisational change programmes, alongside a strong understanding of redeployment/alternative principles including identifying suitable roles, managing a fair selection process and minimising risk through effective redeployment strategies
• Comfortable operating at pace, managing multiple priorities simultaneously with the ability to adapt to evolving business needs
• Proven experience leading collective and individual consultation processes including working with Trade Unions and colleague forums
• A strong understanding of the Employment Rights Act 2025, with the ability to translate legislative requirements into practical and commercially sound ER advice – with outstanding written and verbal communication skills to be able to explain complex issues in a clear and practical manner
• Have a clear understanding of processes involving absence management, conduct, grievances and performance management cases – including the use of MI

Interview process

Recruiter intro/screening call; 1st stage interview with Employee Relations Team Leader(s); 2nd interview with Hiring Leader/Employee Relations Manager; 3rd interview with Head of Employee Relations

Disability Confident commitment

As a Disability Confident employer, we’re committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are fully inclusive – what this means to you is if you’re applying for a job with us, you’ll have fair access to support and adjustments throughout your recruitment journey. We also welcome applications through the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS). For more information on the DCS, please visit our inclusive business page on our careers website.

Regrettably, we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Benefits

• Flexible working –we champion a flexible hybrid working approach – please speak to your recruiter to discuss in more detail
• Competitive bonus scheme- all colleagues are eligible for our annual 4Cs performance bonus
• Financial wellbeing – as well as providing you with 4x your salary with our life assurance cover, income protection at no extra cost, and matched pension contributions up to 10%, we are proud to provide you with an award winning package which includes – discounts, cashback, free independent mortgage advice and free access to financial wellbeing support
• Mental wellbeing programme – we have the thrive mental health app, our colleague assistance programme available 24/7, our own in-house mental health first aiders, support groups and a dedicated team to make sure we are covering your needs
• There's more! – 25 days annual leave + bank holidays, with the option to buy or sell one of your weeks, access to our health care cash back plans, dental plans, discounted health assessments, Cycle to work and tech schemes, discounted and free onsite facilities, social events throughout the year and much more ….

We call it the 4Cs. We focus on getting it right for our colleagues, customers, company and community. As one of our colleagues, you’ll be helping to drive our growth, so in return, we’ll give you all the support, training and development you need. Our 4Cs principles are simple: we believe by creating the right culture for our colleagues and giving them the right tools to do their job, we’ll deliver good outcomes for every customer, helping us to grow the company profitably and sustainably and allowing us to invest in the communities we serve.

Hastings Group is an equal opportunities employer which means we treat people fairly. We welcome applications from all suitably skilled persons regardless of their gender, age, race, disability, ethnic background, religion/belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or marital/family status. Please also note that we have a thorough referencing process, which includes credit and criminal record checks.

At Hastings Direct, we’re committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, we encourage you to be open with us. Our recruitment team is here to provide the support you need to ensure a fair and accessible experience for all.