Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services. Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital. Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions. Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients. In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research. We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit. Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’. The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients. We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS. Job overview Employee Relations Advisor (Permanent / Full-time) – Band 5 An exciting opportunity has arisen in the Employee Relations Team for a Band 5 ER Advisor. This role primarily supports managers to manage sickness absence in a fair and compassionate way and is integral for helping to reduce sickness absence and improve attendance across the Trust. You will advise on a wide range of sickness absence cases, in line with policy and best practice and coach managers to take a proactive role in supporting and managing their staff. Previous experience of employee relations is desirable and you should have experience of advising managers and employees in line with Trust policy and procedure and NHS terms and conditions of service. You will receive guidance and support from the team but will need to be confident in advising managers on a range of HR issues, pro-actively manage an existing case load and coach managers in effective and fair employee relations case management. You will also be required to work in partnership with union representatives. This is a pressurised role and will require the post holder to work with some autonomy. Main duties of the job Key duties of this position include coaching and providing advice to managers with sickness absence cases as well as working flexibly with colleagues covering duties in triage/helpline/HR Portal queue management and redeployment services. Please see the job description for further details. Working for our organisation You will work alongside ER colleagues, providing guidance and cross cover to one another when required. You will be supported by the Senior ER Advisors and ER Managers and will report directly into one of the ER Managers as your line manager. The Employee Relations team is based at offices on Great Dover Street, near the Guy's Hospital Site. We support hybrid working arrangements with a combination of home and on-site working. There is a requirement to work on-site two days per week. The team is experienced, friendly and supportive and will be able to offer guidance and share experiences and learning to support you in the next step of your HR career. Detailed job description and main responsibilities You will be responsible for providing advice and guidance to managers on all aspects of sickness absence management, including reviewing formal letters and reports and providing support in formal meetings and hearings. Working autonomously, you will be responsible for managing a large case load of long term and short term sickness cases , plus any other relevant employee relations case work as determined by the ER Manager. Please see the job description for further details. Person specification Qualifications Essential criteria Associate member of the CIPD Degree or equivalent level of knowledge Certificate in Personnel Practice or CIPD Level 3 working towards level 7 Knowledge & Experience Essential criteria Knowledge of HR procedures Experience of working in a front line customer service role Computer literate with a demonstratable operating level in word, excel and outlook Desirable criteria Knowledge of terms and conditions of employment within the NHS Previous HR experience in the NHS or other large public sector organisation Experience of using ESR or other HR database software Skills Essential criteria Highly effective oral/written communication skills Attention to detail and accurate and timely data input Guy’s and St Thomas’ celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study’s at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity , gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership. Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy. As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends. Flexible working We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking in to account the individual’s personal circumstances as well the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process. Your e-mail address is important to us - We communicate to all job applicants via the e-mail address which has been provided on the application form. Please ensure that you check your e-mail on a regular basis. Please apply for this post by clicking "Apply Online Now." Applicant requirements You must have appropriate UK professional registration. Further details / informal visits contact Name Julie-Anne Gilmore Job title ER Manager Email address [email protected]