Employee Relations Advisor

We are looking for permanent and temporary Employee Relations Advisors with demonstrable background in managing multiple and varied employee relations cases to join our HR Business Partner team.

The Opportunity

Salary: £35,235 to £37,938 per annum

Working Pattern: Full-Time, 37 hours per week

Contract type: 1 x Permanent, 1 x Fixed term or Secondment opportunity (12 months)

Hybrid working: Yes, typically one day each week in our Chichester office and attendance at meetings / other locations as required.

Location: Chichester / any County Council office

Interviews: week commencing 13 January 2025

As an Employee Relations Advisor, you will provide pragmatic advice and guidance to managers within designated business areas in support of delivering our People Framework.

You will hold a varied and multiple employee relations case load including sickness absence, bullying and harassment, grievance, conduct, performance management, reasonable adjustments. Your employment relations advice and case management approach will be in line with HR policies, procedures, relevant employment law and HR best practice.

On a daily basis you will advise on both informal and formal people matters whilst keeping our people at the centre of decision making. You will consider and balance employee and business risks in your advice, and coach managers to find resolutions that meet business need.

You will be a forward thinker, with the ability to notice trends/patterns in employee behaviour and propose options for resolutions. Where required, you will also support with HR projects.

You will be a role model for upholding the values of the organisation when dealing with our managers.

What are we looking for?

As an Employee Relations Advisor your tasks will include:

• Advising and coaching managers to resolve employee relations matters and drive performance management (e.g. absence, grievance, disciplinary, performance). Ensuring relevant risks on approaches are shared using your professional skills and knowledge.
• Building HR capability into the business, establishing trusted relationships as an advisor to different areas of the Council.
• Working with the wider HR teams to deliver as one HR function.
• Supporting with the delivery of WSCC plans and policies.
• Analysing People data to drive conversations, target areas for improvement, and make recommendations for pro-active actions to ensure workforce is best placed to deliver their services.

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

As well as adding real value to our service users and our communities, as an employer we recognise our employees are central in being able to achieve this. To recognise this, we want to help support your development and provide a great place to work ensuring you can fulfil your full potential.,

You will have access to a range of benefits including:

• an excellent local government pension scheme
• generous holiday entitlement of 27 days (plus opportunity to buy additional leave)
• a range of flexible working options, depending on your job role
• maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave

For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further information

The reference number for this role is CRS00891.

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Julie Brown, Senior HR Business Partner (). For issues or queries regarding your application please contact .

Internal candidates wishing to apply for this role will be considered for a secondment position. Please can you therefore discuss and agree this with your manager before applying for this position.

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter. In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explain the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to 3 years referencing and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.