Employee Relations Assistant

Entry level

Term type: Contract

Duration: 12-month FTC

Team: HR

Location: Manchester / Birmingham / London / Northampton

The role

As an Employee Relations Assistant, you will provide administrative and casework support to the HR Advisory team, assisting with the effective management of straightforward and routine employee matters and ensuring processes are handled efficiently, consistently and in line with firm policy. You will support the team in delivering a fair, timely and well-documented approach to people matters, while developing your knowledge of employment practices and building experience across a range of ER activity.

Key accountabilities

• Employee Relations Case Support
  • Support the management of lower-risk employee relations matters, in line with firms policies and procedures, including:
  • Sickness absence management (e.g. absence tracking, return to work support)
  • Non-compliance of mandatory training
  • Phishing incidents and security policy breaches
  • DSE assessments and workplace adjustments
  • Provide initial guidance to managers on straightforward ER queries, escalating more complex issues to ER Advisor or HR Advisor as appropriate.
  • Support effective case management by ensuring all matters are progressed in a timely, accurate and well-organised manner, with clear documentation maintained throughout the lifecycle of each case.
• Case coordination & administrative support
  • Assist the ER team and HR Advisory teams with day-to-day case coordination including:
  • Collating and organising relevant documentation
  • Arranging meetings and support note-taking where required
  • Preparing and maintaining case files and ensuring documentation is complete
  • Invoice checking and approval process
  • Support with the administration of formal ER processes, ensuring compliance with internal procedures and timelines.
  • Provide administrative support during investigations, including evidence gathering and documentation collation.
  • Draft standard ER correspondence and documentation, in line with agreed templates and guidance.
  • Ensure all documentation is accurate, consistent and aligned with firm policies and ER best practice.
  • Maintain appropriate version control, record keeping and confidentiality standards at all times.
  • Data Management, Reporting & Tracking
    • Ensure all ER cases are accurately logged, updated and maintained on ER trackers and dashboards.
    • Maintain high standards of data quality and integrity, ensuring information is complete, current and consistently recorded.
    • Support the preparation of basic reports, summaries and data extracts for the ER team and HR Business Partners.
    • Monitor key administrative aspects of ER activity (e.g. case timelines, documentation completeness, data accuracy, escalating issues where identified).
  • Process Consistency & Continuous Improvement
    • Support the ER team in maintaining consistent processes, templates and guidance across the function.
    • Identify opportunities to improve administrative efficiency, organisation and data quality within ER processes.
    • Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives across the HR Advisory team, particularly in relation to workflows, tracking and documentation.
    • Work closely with HR Advisors and HR Business Partners to support a coordinated, professional and responsive ER service.
    • Provide professional support to managers and employees, handling sensitive matters with discretion.
    • Support wider HR activity where appropriate, particularly during periods of increased ER activity.
    • Effective escalation of issues, demonstrating sound judgement and attention to risk.

  Skills, Experience and Qualifications

  • Experience in an HR, ER, administration in a professional environment.
  • Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks and priorities effectively.
  • High attention to detail and accuracy, particularly when handling documentation and data.
  • Good communication skills, both written and verbal.
  • Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion.
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Office, AI and HR systems.
  • Experience in professional services, ideally with multi-site.
  • Previous exposure to HR or employee relations processes.
  • Understanding of basic employment practices or HR policies.
  • Experience working with data tracking, reporting or dashboards.
  • Working towards or interest in CIPD qualification.

  Ways of working / behavioural expectations

  • Organised and reliable: able to manage tasks effectively and meet deadlines.
  • Detail-oriented: ensures accuracy and consistency in documentation and data.
  • Responsive and supportive: provides timely assistance to the ER and HR teams.
  • Collaborative: works effectively with colleagues across the People Directorate.
  • Willing to learn: builds knowledge and capability in employee relations over time.

  Benefits

  Competitive remuneration. Comprehensive and flexible benefits package.

  Equal opportunities

  Our approach to our people is underpinned by our approach to diversity, inclusion and well-being. Our ambition is to build a diverse and ambitious workforce that reflects all backgrounds and talents, and a workplace that is supportive and inclusive, recognises and nurtures talent, and has a strong sense of community between colleagues. This means that everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, whatever their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, disability, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.

  Disability Confident Employer

  Shoosmiths is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. Disability Confident is a government scheme designed to encourage employers to recruit and retain disabled people and those with long term conditions. We had been accredited as a two tick employer for many years - Disability Confident broadens and develops that original commitment, and demonstrates we have adopted a proactive approach to employing disabled people and developing their abilities.

  As part of our accreditation, we commit to interviewing any applicants with a disability who meet the essential criteria for each vacancy. In some circumstances we may only be able to interview those that best meet the essential criteria due to the volume of applications received.

  We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to and usable by everyone. If you have a disability or long-term condition and would like to receive information in a different way, or need us to make any adjustments, changes or do anything differently during the recruitment process, please get in touch with the Talent Acquisition team on Experienced.Hire@shoosmiths.com. We can consider your needs and requirements, and how we can assist you to apply for our roles. For example, we can provide a copy of our application via email so that you can complete it using your own accessibility software.