Your newpany
We are looking for a confident and motivated Employee Relations Advisor to join a new Sickness Support Team, playing a central role in transforming how sickness absence is managed across our Trust. This is a high-profile role with real scope to make a difference – supporting managers, improving staff wellbeing, and helping deliver lasting organisational change.
Your new role:
As ER Advisor for the Sickness Support Team, you will:
1. Be a trusted partner. Provide expert advice in sickness-related meetings including Long-Term Sickness (LTS), Short-Term Sickness (STS), and Return to Work (RTW), ensuring proceduralpliance, effective case progression, and appropriate guidance on reasonable adjustments and hearings.
2. Manager Capability Building, Deliver tailored 1:1 and team training on sickness absence processes, documentation standards, and system usage, while coaching and mentoring managers across varying levels of experience to build confidence and capability.
3. Data-Driven Targeting. Use sickness absence data to inform monthly service allocations and prioritise support for high-need areas, working collaboratively with HR Business Partners to align interventions with directorate needs.
4. Work Collaboratively. Partner with HR Business Partners, Occupational Health, Organisational Development, and Staff Wellbeing teams to deliver proactive solutions, address hot spots, and support sustainable workforce health.
5. Training Programme Development & Delivery Design and deliver aprehensive training suite covering sickness procedures, meeting preparation, and documentation, using interactive methods such as role play to reinforce learning and build manager confidence.
6. Stakeholder Engagement & Continuous Improvement Maintain strong relationships with directorates, act on feedback to enhance service delivery, and promote best practice by signposting managers to relevant resources and guidance.
What you'll need to succeed
7. Solid experience of managing sickness absence and broader ER caseloads in fast-paced, unionised settings.
8. Strongmunication skills with the ability to handle sensitive issues with empathy and professionalism.
9. Confidence in coaching and training managers to manage absence effectively.
10. A proactive, solutions-focused approach, with the resilience and creativity to balance day-to-day delivery with driving wider change.