Job Description

HR Advisor

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE

The HR Advisor is the senior role within the UKI Service Delivery team responsible for providing specialist HR support to United Kingdom and Ireland employees. The role holder will possess a sound knowledge of all core HR related topics impacting the employee life cycle. The role is responsible for the implementation of our corporate policies, processes and procedures and will help drive improved Service Delivery.

MAJOR AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY

Provides support and guidance to the HR community and employees across the HR life cycle, delivering a high level of customer service at all times when undertaking the key activities of the role:

• Ownership of visa and immigration, occupational health and sickness and leave of absences and family friendly processes for the UKI region
• Ownership of low to medium potential litigation cases, supported by ER specialist and HR Manager when required (grievances, probation reviews, capability meetings and redundancy process)
• Lead or support projects as required, contributing to UKI initiatives aimed at improving the Service Delivery and People function
• Design and deliver training on HR policies, procedures and Workday to improve manager and employee capability
• Assists with document production and auditing as required
• Own and maintain accurate service delivery process documentation as required
• Responsible for filing into employee files and ensuring continued compliance in line with GDPR regulations
• Ensure Workday is accurate and updated at all times
• UKI Knowledge Expert in our HR database - Workday

KEY INTERACTIONS

• Respond to employee queries escalated from HR Associates / Senior HR Associates within the agreed SLA
• Partner closely with the HR Managers helping to resolve queries which arise directly from the business, escalating as required
• Consult with and inform employee relations as appropriate on any employee related issues
• Liaise and partner closely with our Payroll team to ensure changes are actioned in a timely manner and in line with payroll deadlines
• Collaborates with the HR People function to share best practice, knowledge and experience

ROLE METRICS/KEY DELIVERABLES

• Responds to all requests submitted via the phone/email and processes any documentation in accordance with service level agreements
• Answers all calls within the roles remit in a timely fashion, escalating or handing off to other experts within the agreed timeline
• Attends meetings were required and actively advises/supports the business and employees
• Receives positive customer service feedback in relation to regular customer surveys or anytime feedback in the Workday system
• Drives process/procedure improvements year on year by being able to demonstrate savings in time and/or an enhanced customer experience and by encouraging others to do so

POSITION REQUIREMENTS

Education and Experience

• Business, HR, or relevant university degree desirable
• Experience of working in a HR Shared Service or busy customer service environment
• Excellent knowledge in at least one of the areas of visa and immigration, occupational health and sickness or absences and family friendly
• Experience of using a HR information system (Workday or other)
• Experience of using Microsoft Word and Excel at an intermediate / high level

Knowledge and Skills

• Excellent knowledge of a range of HR policies and procedures
• Solution and customer focused attitude with the ability to be flexible, multi-task and prioritise and support others within the team to jointly deliver a best in class service
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate clearly with senior managers, adapting style according to the situation
• Able to work with employees, managers and other HR professionals to find appropriate solutions/responses to queries
• Open-mindedness and willingness to work in a fast-paced diverse environment
• Demonstrates diplomacy, confidentiality and professionalism
• Willingness and ability to develop business acumen
• Good knowledge of UKI employment law

Visa and Immigration

Core activities:

• Manage and initiate immigration services / Tier 2 visa applications, liaising with the HR manager/recruitment/employee/manager
• Critical contact for the 3rd party immigration provider
• Track visa expiry dates, ensuring the extension process is initiated or any application is submitted prior to visa expiring. Responsible for following up with employee before expiry to obtain proof of submission or copy of new visa
• Ensure Home Office notified of any Tier 2 visa holder leavers within 10 days of leave date
• Obtain access to SMS notifications through Home Office site and submit technical changes (i.e. delayed start notification, etc)
• Ensure migrant folders are always up to date
• Ensure accurate nationality and visa/passport information in Workday

Controls:

• Maintain active tracker ensuring an accurate record of migrant populations across all Business Units
• Review compliance pack immediately after case has closed/updates have been made and ensure all required documents are saved within the pack in the migrant folder and all obligations are met
• Carry out weekly audits of new starter/international transfers right to work checks to ensure compliance across the team
• Carry out audits to ensure team is sending migrant memo to new starters

Training:

• Educate managers and HR community of employees who are on company sponsored visa's (i.e. what happens if they change duties)
• Educate the team on immigration legal requirements including reporting obligations, right to work and retention of documents
• Proactively educate the team on UKI immigration updates

Occupational Health (OH) and Sickness

Core activities:

• Support business managers in terms of managing sickness absence within their team as required
• Guide and support managers with OH referrals when expert advice is required (attending meetings as and when required)
• Critical contact for the 3rd party immigration provider
• Keep HR managers briefed on sickness and OH cases to ensure all parties appropriately informed
• Liaise with employee relations on long term sickness cases for advice and guidance
• Analyse data/trends from casework to ascertain where preventative measures may be taken to avoid frequent/long term absence. Implement measures where possible
• Assess the quality of advice being provided by our OH provider and share directly with account manager

Controls:

• Review the Sickness and Absence Policy annually, ensure common understanding of triggers where an employee has excessive or recurring sickness absence and correct understanding in terms of the 12 month rolling period
• Maintain an active tracker of all current case work, ensuring follow ups are taking place

Training:

• Update the team / Key HR stakeholders (HRBPs etc) proactively on how we are managing sickness absence and supporting our leaders / workforce in each business unit
• Ensuring adequate training / materials is available for the team
• Review how/if managers and employees are using workday to track sickness absence within their team and brief managers on the value of proactively managing sickness absence

Absence and Family Friendly

Core activities:

• Handle complex queries relating to flexible working / leave of absence, guiding the team where necessary
• Attend flexible working meetings ensuring managers and employees are guided and supported on the process
• Maintain maternity clinics on monthly basis for expectant mothers to ask any questions

Controls:

• Review supporting documentation and company policies annually to ensure they are fit for purpose and satisfying customer needs
• Ensure the team are maintaining one tracker for all leave of absences and flexible working trials to ensure action is taken before deadlines

Training:

• Look to proactively educate business managers on flexible working and maternity leave (top tips/dos and don'ts)
• Proactively educate the team on latest family friendly legislation / policies

Employee Relations

• End to end ownership of low to medium Employee Relations cases (grievances, probation reviews, capabilities meetings, redundancy process)
• Ensures all ER matters are managed and closed to the agreed and or UKI statutory timelines, minimizing any cost impacts