Job summary
- Main area
- HR
- Grade
- Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part time - 22.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 275-1025-ERM
- Employer
- Medway NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Medway Maritime Hospital
- Town
- GIllingham
- Salary
- £47,810 - £54,710 per annum, pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 26/10/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Employee Relations Manager
Band 7
Do you have the ambition and vision to deliver the Best of Care by the Best People?
Here at Medway, we pride ourselves on working together as one to ensure that our shared vision of Better, Best, Brilliant is achieved
Our Trust is a great choice for people who want to develop their career in an ambitious and dynamic environment; our employees are able to choose the coverage and supplemental benefits that best fit their needs and those of their families. This includes the promotion of flexible working opportunities across the Trust, we are able to give our employees flexibility on where, when and the hours they work.
Our culture and values are what drives Medway NHS Foundation Trust and is the heartbeat of who we are as an organisation. It is important that you understand and to refer to our values when you are completing your application and always reflect our values throughout your employment with the Trust.
Job overview
Job Title: Employee Relations Manager
Division: Corporate
Care Group: HR&OD
Band: 7
Part time. 22.5 hours per week
We are excited to be recruiting for an Employee Relations Manager who shares our ambition and vision to deliver the Best of Care by the Best People and has the drive to take us forward, by ensuring that the Trust continues to be the first choice for patients and our staff.
The post holder will be responsible for overseeing the provision of the employee relations service, ensuring expert and high level advice on an array of ER queries, including disciplinary, grievances, sickness, performance, flexible working, redeployment, ill-health retirement and NHS Terms and Conditions.
To plan, prioritise and manage the competing workloads of the ER Advisory team to ensure advice and support is provided in accordance with Trust policies according to agreed deadlines, employment legislation and Trust values.
Main duties of the job
To be responsible for advising Trust Managers and staff on the correct application of HR policies, procedure and NHS Terms and Conditions
Ensuring the casework of the ER team is are managed to quality standards and timescales.
Reporting on ER KPIs, and producing actions to ensure completion of ER cases within policy timescales and identifying actions to improve processes and progress cases.
Our values are Bold, Every Person Counts, Sharing and Open and Together. It is important that you understand and to refer to our values when completing your application and always reflect our values throughout your employment with the Trust.
We are committed to endorsing diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusion; our policies / procedures ensure that all applicants are treated fairly at every stage of the recruitment process.
To contribute to our exciting future and become part of our team, apply today.
Working for our organisation
Here at Medway, we pride ourselves on working together as one to ensure that our shared vision of Better, Best, Brilliant is achieved. Our culture and values are what drives the Trust and is the heartbeat of who we are as an organisation.
Our Trust is a great choice for people who want to develop their career in an ambitious environment.
Would you like to work flexibly? In the NHS, we are reminded every day of how important life is. As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us, for our patients and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement which will not mean sacrificing time for personal interests or family commitments. We aim to support you to work flexibly in a way that will suit you and us.
All of our substantive & fixed term employees can enjoy a range of staff benefits, a gym, an active health and wellbeing programme, an on-site nursery and a cycle to work scheme.
We are taking positive action to ensure that we can attract, recruit and retain the best talent and would welcome more applicants from under – represented groups to support the Trusts commitment to a diverse, inclusive and an employer of choice workforce.
All staff at Medway comply the Trust’s and the Kent and Medway Safeguarding Board’s policies on safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- Providing expert advice to Line Managers and employees on complex ER issues, including managing a small ER caseload. .
- Lead and line manage the ER advisory team, providing support and guidance, ensuring capability and developmental training.
- Assists the development of organisational training programmes, and delivers training to managers on ER issues.
- Work in partnership with Trade Union representatives, negotiating with them as and when necessary to a mutually beneficial conclusion.
- Use specialist knowledge of ER issues and employment law to help develop and update the Trust Policies to ensure best practice.
- Acting as HR support to hearing panel members on a range of Employee Relations cases, providing specialist advice and guidance on HR issues, including disciplinary action and grievance outcomes.
- Authorise payments for HR materials as needed.
- Develop and update employee relations policies drawing on case management experience and relevant employment law to improve the efficiencies of procedures. Implement and promote new and revised People policies and procedures.
- Identify potential areas of concern and risks with ER issues and ensure that appropriate management or team action is taken to rectify the issue.
- Communicate sensitively and diplomatically with all staff involved in ER cases, ensuring that processes are carried out in a professional manner to Trust values.
- Monitor trends around ethnicity, disability, gender and age, highlighting any areas of concern or disparity and formulate remedial action plans.
- Attend and contribute to the People Directorate Team Meetings, delivering anonymised case studies to improve case management, escalation avoidance, etc
- Maintain and update own knowledge of local and national People issues and employment legislation, keeping abreast of latest developments ensuring knowledge is shared with colleagues and management and acted on as appropriate.
- Ensuring that the use of charters and guides in place for the ER advisory team and these are maintained and updated where necessary and in accordance with any best practice of employment law changes.
- Ensure close collaboration with the HR Business Partners and the Investigations team to review ER data, identifying key indicators to identify potential ER ‘hotspots’ any organisational trends.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Masters Degree or equivalent
- Fully CIPD qualified, level 7 or above
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Knowledge and Understanding of Employment Law
- Best Practice Employee Relations
- NHS T&Cs
Experience
Essential criteria
- Significant experience in ER Advisory role, dealing with wide range (sickness, grievance, disciplinary, performance)
- Management of ER cases including complex cases and case outcomes
- Working in with union colleagues
- Experience of development of HR policies
- Experience managing staff
- Designing and delivering training
Skills
Essential criteria
- Report writing
- Data analysis
- Ability to risk assess ER issues
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Emma Wilson
- Job title
- Head of ER
- Email address
- [email protected]
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