Employee Relations Specialist

Personnel Today Awards; Bracknell; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Flexible start times

Job summary

Hays HR is partnering with a well-established international consumer-facing organisation to recruit an Employee Relations Specialist to join their HR Operations team across the UK and Ireland.

This role focuses on owning complex ER matters, shaping policies and driving improvements in processes to enhance the employee experience, while providing expert guidance to managers and working with external legal advisers as needed.

Qualifications

• Significant experience managing complex ER cases end-to-end.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and lifecycle processes.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Ability to assess risk and provide commercially sound recommendations.
• Experience developing policies, procedures and management capability.
• Strong analytical skills; ability to identify trends and drive improvements.
• Proactive and highly organised.

Responsibilities

• Manage a varied portfolio of complex ER cases including disciplinaries, grievances, performance management, absence, restructures, redundancy consultations, ACAS matters and Employment Tribunals.
• Provide expert advice and coaching to managers on employment law, policy and best practice.
• Assess risk, recommend appropriate case resolutions and support senior stakeholders with decision making.
• Build strong relationships with HR Business Partners, managers and external legal advisors.
• Review, update and develop HR policies and procedures in line with employment legislation and business requirements.
• Deliver ER training and workshops to managers to improve capability and minimise organisational risk.
• Lead and support organisational change projects including restructures, reorganisations and TUPE related activity.
• Analyse ER trends and data, producing meaningful reports and action plans to support business improvement.
• Drive continuous improvement within HR Services through process optimisation and digitalisation initiatives.

Skills

Employee relations

UK employment law

Stakeholder management

Policy development

Data analysis

Project management

Commercial awareness

Education

CIPD Level 5 or Level 7

Job description

Hays HR are delighted to be partnering with a well-established international consumer-facing organisation to recruit an Employee Relations Specialist to join their HR Operations team.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced ER professional to take ownership of complex employee relations matters across the UK and Ireland, while playing a key role in shaping policies, improving processes and driving a positive employee experience.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the HR Shared Services Manager, you will act as the subject matter expert for employee relations, providing pragmatic, commercially focused advice and guidance to managers across the business. You will manage a broad range of complex ER cases whilst supporting the development of policies, procedures and manager capability. Alongside case management responsibilities, you will help identify opportunities to streamline processes, improve reporting and utilise technology to drive efficiencies across HR operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage a varied portfolio of complex ER cases including disciplinaries, grievances, performance management, absence, restructures, redundancy consultations, ACAS matters and Employment Tribunals.
• Provide expert advice and coaching to managers on employment law, HR policy and best practice.
• Assess risk, recommend appropriate case resolutions and support senior stakeholders with decision making.
• Build strong relationships with HR Business Partners, managers and external legal advisors.
• Review, update and develop HR policies and procedures in line with employment legislation and business requirements.
• Deliver ER training and workshops to managers to improve capability and minimise organisational risk.
• Lead and support organisational change projects including restructures, reorganisations and TUPE related activity.
• Analyse ER trends and data, producing meaningful reports and action plans to support business improvement.
• Drive continuous improvement within HR Services through process optimisation and digitalisation initiatives.

About You

We are looking for an experienced Employee Relations Advisor, Employee Relations Specialist or HR Generalist who thrives in a fast-paced environment and enjoys balancing operational casework with strategic improvement initiatives.

You will have:

• Significant experience managing complex employee relations cases from start to finish.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and employee lifecycle processes.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Ability to assess risk and provide commercially sound recommendations.
• Experience developing policies, procedures and management capability.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to identify trends and drive improvements.
• A proactive and highly organised approach to work.
• CIPD Level 5 or Level 7 qualification (or equivalent experience).

Desirable

• Experience supporting both UK and Ireland employee populations.
• Exposure to TUPE, organisational change and transformation projects.
• Additional language skills

What's on Offer?

• Hybrid working model 3 days office 2 days from home with flexible start and finish times within core working hours
• Opportunity to join a collaborative and progressive HR function.
• Broad exposure to complex ER and organisational change activity.
• International business environment.
• Excellent opportunity to shape policy, process and employee experience.