Employee Relations Advisor

This post is only open for applications from individuals employed within the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board.

Organisations within scope are as follows:

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Isle of Wight NHS Trust

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

NHS Band 5: £32,073 - £39,043 per annum (effective from
01/04/2026)

Hours Per Week: 37.5 full time

Contract Type:
Fixed term for 1 year

Base

Location:

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust Corporate Hub, Block 4000, Lakeside North Harbour, Western Road, Cosham,Portsmouth, PO6 3EN

As the single corporate service will be delivered across both organisations, individuals may be required to undertake business travel between sites.

Are you a motivated HR professional looking to further develop your employee relations expertise in a supportive, progressive, andhigh performing environment?

As part of our single service offer, you will work across both Trusts and may be required to travel between sites depending on service needs. There is flexibility for some home working; however, the role requires aregular onsite presence to deliver effective support to managers and staff.

As an Employee Relations Advisor, you will play a key role in delivering a high quality, proactive HR service that supports improved staff experience, effective case management, and positive organisational outcomes. You will:

• Take the lead on managing absence and ill health cases, analysing sickness data, producing reports, and supporting managers with proactive attendance management strategies.
• Act as a primary point of contact for staff and managers seeking HR advice, providing guidance on a range of HR policies, terms and conditions, and best practice.
• Support investigations and ER processes, including disciplinary, grievance, capability, and performance management matters.
• Advise and participate in formal hearings for absence and less complex employee relations cases.
• Support organisational change processes and ensure managers understand and apply People Services policies correctly.
• Contribute to training delivery, including management essentials and employment relations learning.
• Support job evaluation processes in line with NHS job evaluation criteria.
• Analyse ER data and key indicators, particularly sickness absence, to support performance reporting.
• Maintain accurate records, support SOP updates, and ensure effective team.
• Assist with Subject Access Requests (SARs) and Freedom of Information (FOI) responses in line with statutory requirements.

Our vision for Single Corporate Services

Isle of Wight NHS Trust (IWT) and Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (PHU) have a shared vision of a single corporate service across our two organisations, supported by a single set of identical systems and processes, under joint leadership, to drive significant efficiencies, improve employee experience, and return time to patient care.

This vacancy is part of the Single Corporate Services Division.

The vision for our single corporate services is to:

• Be an employer of choice for corporate talent, attracting and retaining people who share our values for excellence in care and welcome the opportunity to benefit from the broad range of flexible career and development opportunities we can offer.
• Improve efficiency through simplified and standardised policies, processes, and systems, drawing on the best from both Trusts.
• Do things once and reduce any duplication on transactional tasks giving corporate staff the ability to focus on higher value and more diverse activities.
• Co-invest in the latest digital solutions and standardise our approach, meaning we do things once for both organisations.
• Improve learning and development opportunities and sharing best practice, upskilling.
• Co-locate teams in purpose-built facilities on the Island and in Portsmouth to enable closer working and sharing.
• Build resilience for individuals and our teams.

Job summary:

The ER Advisor role at Isle of Wight NHS Trust and Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust encompasses a wide array of responsibilities aimed at delivering a comprehensive HR service to managers, line managers, and staff.

The primary focus of the role involves managing absence and illness effectively, serving as a central point of contact for staff and managers for general HR advice, and supporting the Employee Relations team in ensuring compliance with legal requirements. The HR Advisor contributes to developing a proactive and modern HR service, participates in policy drafting and reviews, and supports various employee relations functions such as grievance handling, disciplinary procedures, capability assessments, and organisational change processes.

Additionally, the ER Advisor helps in coordinating job matching and analysis, advising on investigations, and participating in formal hearings. This role involves…