HR Officer – AR

Carrington Blake Recruitment; Bolton le Sands; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work arrangement

Job summary

Carrington Blake Recruitment is seeking an experienced HR Officer to provide practical and professional employee relations support to managers across the organisation. You will manage a varied caseload of employee relations matters, offering guidance on employment law and HR policies throughout the full case management process.

This hands‑on role focuses on disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence and capability casework, ideally within public sector or local government environments.

Qualifications

• Experience in HR officer/advisor/employee relations or HR casework.
• Strong knowledge of disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence and capability casework processes.
• Good understanding of UK employment law and HR best practice.

Responsibilities

• Manage a varied caseload of employee relations matters including disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, capability, probation and conduct cases.
• Provide clear, timely HR advice to managers on employment law, policies, and procedures.

Skills

Employee relations

Disciplinary

Grievance

Sickness absence

Employment law

Policy guidance

Trade unions

Education

CIPD Level 5

Tools

Oracle HRMS

Microsoft Office

Job description

HR Officer – Employee Relations / Casework

Location: Hybrid – 3 days office / 2 days home once fully trained
Department: People and Transformation
Role Type: HR Casework / Employee Relations

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced HR Officer to provide practical and professional employee relations support to managers across the organisation.

The successful candidate will manage a varied caseload of employee relations matters, providing clear advice on employment law, HR policies and procedures and supporting managers throughout the full case management process.

This is a hands‑on HR role suited to someone with strong experience in disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence and capability casework, ideally within a public sector or local government environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage a varied caseload of employee relations matters, including disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, capability, probation and conduct cases.
• Provide clear, timely and pragmatic HR advice to managers on employment law, policies and procedures.
• Support managers throughout the full employee relations casework process, from initial advice through to formal meetings and hearings.
• Attend formal meetings and hearings, providing procedural guidance and HR advice.
• Draft HR correspondence, reports, case documentation and recommendations.
• Advise managers and employees on terms and conditions of employment.
• Support managers with organisational change, restructures and redeployment where required.
• Work constructively with trade unions and employee representatives.
• Maintain accurate and confidential case records using HR systems, including Oracle.
• Extract and analyse HR management information to support casework and reporting.
• Work collaboratively with HR, Occupational Health, Health & Safety and Organisational Development teams.
• Contribute to the development and consistent application of HR policies and procedures.
• Ensure all casework is handled professionally, confidentially and in accordance with data protection requirements.

Essential Experience and Skills

• Proven experience working in an HR Officer, HR Advisor, Employee Relations or HR Casework position.
• Strong practical experience managing employee relations casework.
• Experience of disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence and capability procedures.
• Good working knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice.
• Experience providing advice and guidance to managers.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including experience drafting formal HR correspondence.
• Ability to manage a busy caseload and prioritise competing demands.
• Strong understanding of HR policies and procedures.
• Experience working with HR systems and Microsoft Office.
• Ability to work independently and exercise sound professional judgement.
• Experience working with trade unions would be highly desirable.
• CIPD Level 5 or equivalent HR experience/qualification.

Desirable

• Previous experience working within local government or the wider public sector.
• Knowledge of local government terms and conditions.
• Experience working within a unionised environment.
• Experience using Oracle or similar HR management information systems.
• Experience supporting organisational change, restructures or redeployment.

Working Pattern

The role is hybrid, with 3 days working from the office and 2 days from home once the successful candidate is fully trained.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate will be an experienced HR professional who is confident handling a busy employee relations caseload and providing practical, solution‑focused advice to managers.

They will be comfortable managing cases from start to finish, have a strong understanding of employment law and HR policy, and be able to work effectively with managers, employees and trade union representatives.

Public sector or local authority HR experience would be particularly advantageous.