HR Assistant (12 month FTC)

Herbert Smith Freehills; Greater London; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer in London seeks an HR Generalist to provide essential HR support across the full lifecycle. The role anchors the AskHR helpdesk, handling day-to-day queries and guiding requests to the HR team for resolution.

You will manage onboarding, maintain personnel records, assist with employee relations, payroll inputs and bi-annual trainee inductions, ensuring a compliant and client-focused service.

Qualifications

• Proactive, confident and uses own initiative.
• Excellent organisation skills.
• Attention to detail is key.
• Proven client service experience is essential.
• Previous HR experience is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Classifying queries and requests at first instance before assigning to members of the team.
• Supporting the end to end employee life cycle by providing administrative assistance to HR Business Partners and the wider HR team.
• Maintaining personnel records, ensuring all employee information is up to date and accurate on HR.Net.
• Coordinating the weekly new joiner induction, liaising with Recruitment, Office Operations and IT Training teams.
• Managing the onboarding process for new joiners, liaising with external referencing provider for pre-employment checks.
• Managing end to end Parental Leave processes for all employees.
• Assisting with ER related issues such as disciplinaries and redundancies with notes taken accurately.
• Coordinating monthly payroll submissions with HR Business Partners’ approvals before cutoff.
• Monitoring sickness absence and escalating to HR Business Partners as needed.
• Running ad-hoc New Joiner Chats and Exit Interviews with feedback to HR Partners.

Skills

Proactive

Organisation

Attention to detail

Client service

HR experience

Job description

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer is a world-leading global law firm, where our ambition is to help you achieve your goals.

Exceptional client service and the pursuit of excellence are at our core. We invest in and care about our client relationships, which is why so many are longstanding. We enjoy breaking new ground, as we have for over 170 years.

As a fully integrated transatlantic and transpacific firm, we are where you need us to be. Our footprint is extensive and committed across the world’s largest markets, key financial centres and major growth hubs.

At our best tackling complexity and navigating change, we work alongside you on demanding litigation, exacting regulatory work and complex public and private market transactions. We are recognised as leading in these areas.

We are immersed in the sectors and challenges that impact you. We are recognised as standing apart in energy, infrastructure and resources. And we’re focused on areas of growth that affect every business across the world.

All of this is achieved by supporting the growth of our people, who help us deliver on our ambition – which is to help you achieve yours.

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer: Your goals. Our ambition

The Opportunity

Key Internal Relationships:

• HR Advisers
• HR Managers
• Payroll Team
• Recruitment Team
• Centre of Excellence Teams within HR
• Fee Earning Divisions (including Partners, Associates, Legal PA Managers, Group Executive Assistants, and PAs)
• Other Business Services Teams (including Learning & Development, Office Operations & IT)

Key External Relationships:

• Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
• Referencing Provider

Key Responsibilities:

The HR Generalist team is managed by the HR Manager, Operations, and is responsible for providing general HR support to all business areas via the ‘AskHR’ helpdesk.

The AskHR helpdesk is the first point of contact for day-to-day HR related queries and requests offering a general advisory service across the Firm.

• Classifying queries and requests at first instance before assigning to members of the team.
• Supporting the end to end employee life cycle by providing administrative assistance to the HR Business Partners and the wider HR team
• Maintaining personnel records, ensuring that all employee information is up to date and accurate on HR.Net
• Coordinating the weekly new joiner induction, liaising with the Recruitment, Office Operations and IT Training teams to ensure a smooth client experience
• Managing the on-boarding process for new joiners, liaising with the Firm’s external referencing provider to ensure pre-employment checks are completed by the joiner’s probation date
• Managing end to end Parental Leave processes for all employees
• Assisting with ER related issues such as disciplinaries and redundancies by taking a full and accurate note of the meeting.
• Coordinating monthly payroll submissions by ensuring all instructions are added to the payroll data room and are approved by the HR Business Partners before payroll cut off.
• Monitoring frequent sickness absence and escalating to the HR Business Partners where appropriate
• Conducting ad-hoc New Joiner Chats and Exit Interviews, providing feedback to the HR Business Partners where appropriate
• Running the weekly Joiners, Movers and Leavers report and uploading to the Firm’s Intranet
• Coordinating the bi-annual General Trainee Induction, arranging speakers and training materials, collating feedback and liaising with the Learning & Development, Office Operations and Audio Technician teams to ensure a smooth client experience
• Supporting the Annual Performance, Salary and Bonus Review by attending group moderation meetings and talent sessions, data checking and letter production
• Assisting the HR Manager, Operations with the annual renewal of SRA Practicing Certificates for Partners, Registered Foreign Lawyers and England and Wales qualified solicitors globally.

Qualifications, Skills & Experience

• Proactive, confident and uses own initiative
• Excellent organisation skills
• Attention to detail is key
• Proven client service experience is essential
• Previous HR experience is desirable

Team

People

Working Pattern

Full time

Location

London

Contract type

Fixed Term Contract

Diversity & Inclusion

We are committed to attracting people from all backgrounds and creating a respectful and inclusive culture where everyone thrives. We see this as essential to our success, including our ability to innovate and achieve sustained high performance. This is a key part of our Values—Human, Bold, and Outstanding.