Employee Relations Specialist

Canada Life UK looks after the retirement, investment and protection needs of individuals, families and companies. We help to build better futures for our customers, our intermediaries and our employees by operating as a modern, agile and welcoming organisation.

Part of our parent company Great-West Lifeco, Canada Life UK has operated in the United Kingdom since 1903. We have hundreds of respected and supported employees committed to doing the right thing for our customers and colleagues.

Canada Life UK is transforming to create a more customer-focused business by providing our customers with expertise on financial and tax planning, offering home finance and annuities propositions, and providing collective fund solutions to third party customers.

People Services | Watford

Project Role - Fixed Term Contract, 6-12 monhts

Help shape how we manage, support and engage our people at Canada Life UK.
We are looking for an experienced Employee Relations Specialist to join our People Services division in Watford. You will be a trusted expert for ER casework and change activity, helping leaders and HR colleagues to manage employee relations matters confidently, fairly and in line with our policies and regulatory responsibilities.

In this role you will:

• Provide specialist ER advice on day-to-day case management, including grievance, disciplinary, absence and performance and change management matters.
• Support People Relations Partners and operational leaders across Canada Life UK, acting as the first point of escalation for BAU ER issues.
• Help support our evolving People Services operating model to build ER expertise in the function and people management capability in the business.
• Contribute to People Leader training initiatives that promote confident, independent management of absence, performance and conflict management.
• Work on defined caseloads and action plans that address areas of concern, helping to drive improved outcomes for colleagues and the business.
• Escalate more complex or higher risk matters to the Employee Relations Partner in a timely and well-judged way.
• You will be seen as an SME and trusted adviser, taking a calm, measured and commercial approach to ER activity and fostering a collaborative, supportive culture.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Building strong relationships within the ER and People Relations Partners community and across People Services, earning credibility as a subject matter expert.
• Acting as an escalation point for People Relations Partners on ER cases, ensuring objectives are clear, deadlines are met and developmental support is provided.
• Maintaining and supporting the improving ER processes and supporting legislative compliance, including input to policy updates and process improvements.
• Supporting change programmes across Canada Life UK, working with ER and PRP colleagues on CL and PS change projects, including organisational change activity.
• Ensuring accurate ER data capture in the ER case tracker, supporting regulatory and internal reporting and helping to identify trends and themes that require action.
• Supporting external relationships with providers such as occupational health and outplacement services to support internal processes.
• Collaborating with Learning to deliver refresher training on People Policies and to build management confidence in handling ER matters.
• You will also help ensure that ER activity is controlled, monitored and reported in line with our risk management programmes and regulatory requirements.

We are looking for:

• Experience in an operational HR Generalist / Adviser role with a strong ER focus, or in a dedicated ER Specialist role.
• Proven background managing ER casework, including grievance, disciplinary, absence and performance management.
• Experience supporting organisational change projects, particularly redundancy processes end to end.
• Experience working within an HR / ER team in a financial services or professional services environment would be desirable.
• A commercial, pragmatic approach to ER, engaging confidently with People Leaders and help in finding creative,…