Job Title:                    Senior HR Adviser

Type of contract:      Permanent  

Directorate:                Resources – Human Resources

Hours:                        Full time – 37 hours per week

Responsible to:        People and Organisational Support Manager

Main purpose of the role

To support the council in delivering its business objectives to the residents of Oxfordshire through a high performing, capable and motivated workforce by providing professional HR expertise on employee relations, performance management and attendance.

Promote best practice standards of people management  and contribute to the continual improvement of professional, expert HR advice and practice across out workforce.

Main responsibilities

Diagnose, advise and work with staff to resolve workplace disputes and conflict accessing specialist input from Organisational Development, mediation and other specialists where necessary with the aim of achieving informal resolution wherever possible.

Advise and support managers on matters relating to sickness absence.
Monitor long term sickness and update case management information, to ensure all sickness absence cases are proactively managed.

Promote and advise on good working practices and fair and effective procedures to encourage a swift return to work where possible.

Advise and support Grievance Managers to manage formal grievances and disputes including setting terms of reference, liaising with the aggrieved employee, trade unions and investigating officer.

Contribute to the development of  best practice policies and procedures, feeding back through 121’s and attendance at HR practice learning meetings.

CIPD qualified to graduate level with up to date knowledge of employment law and employee relations best practice.

Considerable experience that would have been gained from at least five years of providing professional advice on employee relations matters in a diverse and complex organisation.

Experience of understanding and advising on a variety of complex HR matters including contractual terms and conditions, pay and benefits, employment status and the interpretation of policies and procedures.

Highly developed communication skills with the ability to influence, build rapport quickly and communicate effectively verbally and in writing, translating legal and policy matters into plain English, adapting style to different people including experience of advising senior leaders.

Strong commitment to equalities and inclusion with experience of advising and dealing with discrimination, bullying and harassment.

Proven track record of resolving conflict by facilitating and aiding reconciliation between parties, diagnosing the root cause and developing solutions including advising on formal procedures where informal resolution is not achieved.

Experience of advising on informal performance improvement and formal disciplinary and capability procedures.

Good IT and administration skills with a sound understanding of the legal requirements in handling personal and sensitive data and ability to use Excel spreadsheets to manipulate data.
 

Good organisation skills with ability to prioritise a case load, ensuring cases are progressed and resolved in a timely way.

Honest with strong integrity, setting high personal and professional standards with a commitment to continuous professional development.

Experience of collaborating with a team and other stakeholders.

Resilient with the ability to deal with challenging behaviours and conflict.