ER Advisor

We have an exciting opportunity available for a Band 5, ER Advisor in the Employee Relations team. This is a new post that has been created to primarily focus on supporting managers with managing sickness absence cases, as well as being a primary point of contact for staff and managers seeking general HR advice., The postholder will work as part of the Employee Relations Team comprising of Senior ER Advisors and ER Manager and will be crucial in helping the Team deliver a comprehensive and proactive HR service to Divisional and Corporate Managers, Line Managers and staff. As well as leading on providing support with sickness absence cases, you will also provide guidance on a wide range of employment issues and support the Senior ER Advisors with disciplinary, capability and grievance cases, and co-ordinate the job matching and analysis process. The role will also contribute to the just and learning culture, supporting managers to embed this approach in the management of issues, and in promoting a culture of learning and improvement., The ER Advisor role at HPFT encompasses a wide array of responsibilities aimed at delivering a comprehensive HR service to managers, line managers, and staff. The primary focus of the role involves managing absence and illness effectively, serving as a central point of contact for staff and managers for general HR advice, and supporting the Employee Relations team in ensuring compliance with legal requirements. The ER Advisor contributes to developing a proactive and modern HR service, participates in policy drafting and reviews, and supports various employee relations functions such as grievance handling, disciplinary procedures and capability assessments. Additionally, the ER Advisor will coordinate job matching and analysis, advising on investigations, and participating in formal hearings. This role involves providing constant support and guidance to enhance employee relations capability and promoting open working relationships to build a positive employee relations environment within the organisation. Key Relationships Executive Directors, Deputy Directors, Divisional Directors, Clinical Directors, Heads of Service, Service Managers, Heads of Nursing, Matrons, Chief People Officer, Deputy Chief People Officer, Strategic HR Business Partners, ER Manager, Senior ER Advisors and all employees and their union representatives., 1) Absence and Ill Health Management

• Manage absence (both LTS and STS) and ill health matters effectively within the Trust, providing guidance and support to staff and management.
• Advise on complex issues such as long-term sickness cases, ill-health retirement, reasonable adjustments and termination discussions.
• Organisation of final stage hearings in accordance with the Trust's Sickness Absence Policy, which may require adjustment of plans dependent on availability of individuals, adjustments requirement and room availability.
• Analyse sickness absence data, provide detailed reports, and collaborate with managers to implement proactive absence management strategies.
• Work with the Senior ER Advisors and HR Business Partners to design interventions for absence reduction.
• Provide training, guidance, and advice on sickness absence management within the organisation.
2) Point of Contact and Advisory Role
• Serve as a primary point of contact for staff and managers, offering advice on less complex HR issues.
• Provide comprehensive employee relations advice and guidance based on Trust policies, NHS Agenda for Change (AfC) and medical terms and conditions, and best practices.
• Offer consistent advice on employee relations matters to enhance organisational capability.
• Liaise with internal departments including Recruitment, Payroll services, Finance etc. and external organisations such as Occupational Health, as appropriate.
3) Compliance and Operational Support
• Keep the Employee Relations Manager abreast of operational issues within the Trust/Divisions.
• Ensure manager awareness and compliance with People Services policies and procedures.
• Contribute to the drafting, formulation and implementation of existing and new policies, procedures and standard operating procedures.
• Manage the appropriate shared mailboxes, ensuring that all emails are being responded to in a timely manner and documents are field electronically in the correct place and appropriately named.
• Ensure the ER Caseworker system is kept up to date in relation to all ER cases being supported.
• Support and keep up to date the job evaluation database/spreadsheet.
4) Employee Relations Processes and Investigations
• Provide advice and support on investigations, including grievances, discipline, and performance management.
• Assist in employee relations hearings, particularly for absence management and less complex cases.
• Act as an adviser for non-complex disciplinary, capability, and grievance hearings.
• Review management cases for formal hearings, identify gaps, and support managers in decision-making.
• Support the job evaluations process in accordance with NHS job evaluation criteria, including planning and organising job evaluation panels and recording requests and outcomes in the central database/records.
• Provide advice and process all maternity, paternity, parental, shared parental and adoption leave requests.
5) Training and Development
• Deliver training sessions on management essentials and other relevant topics to support leadership strategies.
• Promote positive working relationships and open communication among colleagues and staff representatives.
• Provide guidance on panel compositions and hearing packs for formal hearings.
6) Reporting and Analysis
• Contribute to performance management reporting by analysing key indicators, particularly sickness absence data.
• Participate in job matching and role analysis processes as necessary.
• Provide pragmatic advice tailored to address risks and implications effectively.
7) Documentation and Record Keeping
• Take and transcribe formal minutes for hearings and work groups.
• Record case information accurately and efficiently in designated systems.
• Review and update team standard operating procedures regularly.
8) Task Prioritisation and Resource Management
• Reprioritise tasks and reassess strategies within evolving employee relation scenarios.
• Handle competing priorities effectively to ensure efficient case management.
9) Subject Access and Freedom of Information Requests
• Support and organise the processing of Subject Access Requests (SAR) and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, ensuring timely responses are provided in accordance with statutory requirements and Trust policies, while maintaining appropriate documentation to support audits and reviews.
  
  Educated to degree level in a HR related subject area or Level 5 CIPD qualification or relevant equivalent qualification or equivalent relevant experience in HR environment
• Membership of the CIPD
Desirable criteria
• Trained in NHS AfC Job Evaluation, Experience of working in an operational HR role dealing with sensitive and complex issues
• Experience of advising managers on a range of HR issues, in particular absence management
• Experience of involvement in policy development and implementation, Knowledge of a range of HR policies, processes and practices e.g. absence and capability, disciplinary and grievance procedures
• Knowledge of current employment law, data protection and ACAS Codes of Practice
  
  Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust are one of just five mental health trusts to achieve an overall rating of 'Outstanding' from the Care Quality Commission.
Our family of over 4,500 members of staff provide health and social care for people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. Everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout, HPFT supports people with mental ill health, learning disabilities and autism across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Norfolk and Essex. We employ around 4,500 people who deliver these services within the community and in inpatient settings. We also deliver a range of nationally commissioned specialist services including Tier 4 services for children and young people, perinatal services and medium and low secure learning disabilities services. We have operated as a NHS Foundation Trust since our authorisation in August 2007.