Job title: HR Advisor - Attendance

Salary: SO2 £37,280 - £39,152

Hours: 37

Contract: 24 months

Location: Leeds

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the HR team, working with a range of stakeholders including manager, HR and Health safety & wellbeing colleagues, and Trade Unions with the management of absence throughout Leeds City Council. This team will promote workforce wellbeing and make a difference by proactively supporting attendance management cases throughout all stages of the process.

This role will focus on implementing our long-term plan to achieve successful outcomes. You’ll have the opportunity to analyse data, which we can then use to develop plans and strategies to improve attendance. To support this important project, we’re establishing an Improving Attendance Taskforce for which we are recruiting multiple HR Advisor Attendance roles. The roles will be fixed term for 2 years.

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions. 

About you 

As an HR Advisor Attendance, you will bring to the role:

• The ability to apply judgement and analytical skills to complex situations, while using your initiative to resolve difficult problems or to develop a plan to address them.
• Demonstrate an understanding of people culture and inclusion strategies and outcomes.
• The ability to respond independently to unforeseen issues, only referring to your manager in relation to serious problems, while also organising your own workload.
• The ability to build effective and collaborative relationships with stakeholders to understand future challenges and to deliver successful solutions.
• The ability to work flexibly across different locations.

About the role  

As an HR Advisor Attendance, you’ll thrive on improving attendance across the council during your time with us. You’ll work collaboratively with service managers, HR, occupational health and Trade Unions to improve attendance. This will be achieved through a mixture of regular advice, proactive case management, identifying patterns and their root causes, as well as carrying out targeted interventions.

As an HR Advisor, you’ll be part of the Attendance team who strive to ensure a safe and healthy workplace is embedded within our values and culture. We recognise that by improving attendance across the Council, we will improve workforce productivity and well-being, in addition to contributing to significant financial savings.

In the first 12 months: The team will work collaboratively with colleagues across the council to improve attendance. This will be done through case management, identifying patterns and root causes, developing and implementing targeted interventions, and promoting wellbeing and engagement. 

In the final 12 months: The team will build manager capability and confidence to enable them to offer well-being support and improve absence levels.

The team will work closely with Health, Safety & wellbeing colleagues including Occupational Health to create an integrated and proactive approach to workforce wellbeing. 

What we offer you 

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including: 

• a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays 

• membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions 

• flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements 

• a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities 

• a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further 

How to apply 

Please complete the online application form.  

Read our guidance for further advice on completing your application.  

If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role please contact Nicola Illingworth on 0113 3789303 or Emma Jaye on 0113 3789308.  

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.  

This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa. 

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visaroute before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Please ensure you are eligible before applying. 

Job Description

Job Purpose: Assist HR Leadership team with management of absence across the Council by taking responsibility for targeted areas to proactively manage Improving Attendance cases. As part of a Well-being Attendance Taskforce, you will provide support to build the capability and confidence of managers to support staff well-being and reduce sickness absence.

Responsibilities:

• Work collaboratively with Service Managers, HR, Health, Safety & Well-being colleagues including Occupational Health to reduce sickness absence, through a combination of day-to-day advice, proactive case management, the identification of patterns and root causes, developing and implementing targeted interventions, and promoting wellbeing and engagement. 
• Build manager capability and confidence as part of the future well-being and attendance strategy.
• Implement the Improving Attendance policy to provide appropriate advice and guidance at all stages of the process including return to work, long term sickness, reviews, target setting, policy progression, Occupational health referrals and medical redeployment.
• Use attendance data to analyse, forecast and prepare information to ensure developing issues are flagged up appropriately. Identify emerging issues and work with services to design and deliver cost effective workforce solutions and strategies that contribute to effective management of service budgets and improve attendance at work.
• Respond independently to unanticipated issues and only refer to your manager in relation to serious problems, in line with local procedures.
• Apply judgement and analytical skills to complex situations and information presented, to resolve difficult problems and produce new ideas, where problems cannot be resolved immediately develop a plan to address them.
• Take responsibility for completing tasks and activities to deliver the required outcomes on time
• Work with HR and Health, Safety and Well-being colleagues, and Trade Unions to support service improvement related to attendance and progress cases as appropriate.
• Supervision of staff, including allocation/checking work, advising and training staff as appropriate
• Use peer support and challenge to monitor the performance of the Well-being and Attendance Taskforce and use a coaching approach to ensure a strong high performing team maximises its contribution.
• Improve own practice through observation, evaluation, discussion with colleagues and development programmes.
• Contribute to the overall ethos, work, and aims of the service by attending relevant meetings, training days/events as requested.
• The duties outlined are not meant as an exhaustive list and will also comprise any other duties within the spirit of the post commensurate with the job evaluation outcome for this post.

Qualifications Chartered Membership of the CIPD, or equivalent relevant knowledge and experience is essential, any relevant post graduate qualification is desirable

Essential requirements Candidates will only be shortlisted if they can demonstrate that they meet all the following essential requirements.

• Able to travel throughout Leeds City Council boundaries and move location within the service working at different sites /areas depending on need. 
• Able to and experience of working effectively as part of a team, demonstrating organisational and time management skills prioritising own and team’s work to meet conflicting deadline
• Able to and experience of developing constructive working relationships and working in partnership with others including internal/external stakeholders, Directors, colleagues, elected members and trade union
• Able to and experience of working within and interpreting financial policies and procedures ensuring value for money
• Able to and experience of using IT systems, accurately entering and retrieving data and information from digital systems, analysing data, producing reports and data for senior managers
• Able to communicate appropriately and effectively with a wide range of people through a variety of different methods including sensitive and complex information
• Able to influence views and behaviour and adapt style to convey complicated or sensitive information to a range of people
• Able to use initiative to develop solutions to issues and problems to ensure effective delivery of the service
• Demonstrate an understanding of people culture and inclusion strategies and outcomes
• Knowledge of relevant legislation, guidance, policies with ability to interpret and apply them consistently
• Understand responsibilities in terms of Health and Safety, security, confidentiality and data protection

Essential Behavioural & other Characteristics

• Understand and embrace Leeds City Council Values and Behaviours and codes of conduct
• Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Best City Ambition of Health & Wellbeing, Inclusive Growth and Zero Carbon
• Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council policies and procedures.
• Carry out duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health, Safety and Wellbeing
• Participate in appraisal, training and development activities to ensure up, to date knowledge and skills.
• Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding equality & diversity of Leeds City Council.
• Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person
• Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
• The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.

Apply for this job