Employee Relations Partner - South

This is a new exciting role we're bringing into the business as part of our aims to establish an employee relations (ER) team.You'll be required to provide specialist employee relations (ER) support across the South region, helping managers and leaders resolve ER matters fairly, consistently and in line with employment law, company policy and Booker values.

You'll be a trusted ER expert, supporting complex and sensitive cases, building manager capability, promoting informal resolution where appropriate, and using ER insight to identify risks, trends and opportunities for improvement.

Whilst we've advertised this role in and around Oxford due to it's good transport links, we're flexible on where this role is based as it's a regional role which will cover the south of the country including but not limited to; South Wales, East Anglia, South East and South West.

• Build effective relationships with People Partners, People Advisors, managers and leaders to support effective resolution of ER matters.
• Provide timely expert advice and guidance on a broad range of ER matters, including conduct, capability, performance, absence, grievance and other workplace issues.
• Promote informal resolution wherever appropriate, helping managers build confidence in early intervention, effective conversations and practical issue resolution.
• Advise managers on formal ER processes, actively supporting complex and sensitive cases in the field.
• Act as a trusted expert on people policies, promoting consistent application and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Provide constructive challenge to managers and leaders where decision-making, policy application, cultural impact or ER risk requires review.
• Analyse ER data, case trends and regional themes to identify risks, opportunities and priorities.
• Use ER insight to deliver targeted interventions that strengthen manager capability, improve consistency and reduce ER risk.
• Partner with People Partnering teams to provide advice on TUPE, redundancy and people-impacting change programmes.
• Work closely with employment law providers on high-risk cases, ensuring advice is practical, risks are understood and lessons learned are shared across the business.
• Escalate complex, sensitive or high-risk matters appropriately, providing clear recommendations, risk assessments and proposed next steps.
• Support wider ER projects, policy updates, manager capability activity and continuous improvement initiatives where required.

Technical / Professional

• Strong ER experience, including formal case management and employment law application.
• Good understanding of UK employment law and ER risk.
• Experience advising on conduct, capability, performance, absence, grievance, harassment, discrimination and other workplace matters.
• Experience using mediation and conflict resolution skills to address issues outside of formal processes.
• Experience supporting complex, sensitive or high-risk ER cases.
• Ability to provide clear, practical and risk-based advice to managers, leaders and People colleagues.
• Experience coaching managers to build confidence and capability in ER.
• Ability to analyse ER data, identify trends and recommend targeted interventions.
• Good understanding of people policies, change processes, TUPE, redundancy and people-impacting business change.
• Experience working with external employment law providers and managing a tribunal case load would be beneficial.
• Strong written communication skills, with the ability to produce clear case summaries, recommendations and risk assessments.
• Confident using Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams and Word.
• Experience using ER case management systems would be beneficial.

Behavioural & Leadership

• Ability to influence managers and leaders.
• Fair, balanced and values-led, with strong judgement and commitment to consistency.
• Calm and resilient when managing complex, sensitive or high-risk ER matters.
• Strong communicator, able to explain ER and employment law matters clearly and practically.
• Analytical and evidence-led, with the ability to use data, case insight and risk assessment to guide decisions.
• Constructive challenger, able to support better decision-making while maintaining trusted relationships.
• Collaborative, with the ability to work effectively across People, Policy, Legal, Operations and leadership teams.
• Improvement-focused, with willingness to strengthen ER processes, policy application, reporting and manager capability.
• Organised and disciplined, with strong follow-up, case governance and attention to detail.
• Professional and confidential when handling sensitive colleague, legal or business information.

Booker is the UK's leading food & drink wholesaler. We are privileged to serve independent retailers, caterers and small businesses, from locations across the country. We operate over 190 cash and carry branches, 8 distribution centres, 5 Best Food Logistics sites, as well as 6 support centre locations across the UK.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) at Booker means that whoever you are and whatever your background, we always want you to feel represented and that you can be yourself at work. In short, we’re a place where Everyone’s Welcome.

We know life looks a little different for each of us. That’s why at Booker and Best, we always welcome conversations about flexible working. Some people are at the start of their careers; some want the freedom to do the things they love. Others are going through life-changing moments like becoming a carer, nearing retirement, adapting to parenthood, or something else. So, talk to us throughout your application about how we may be able to support you.

We’re proud that Booker is a Disability Confident Committed Leader and we’re committed to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process. For further information on the accessibility support you can expect, please contact recruitment@bookergroup.com

Please note

We can only accept candidates over the age of 18 if the role requires working before 6:15 am or after 9:45 pm or involves working in areas such as the warehouse, beers, wines & spirits, and driving roles.

On the occasions where we have high volumes of applicants, some roles may close earlier than the advertised end date in order for us to manage all of the applicants appropriately. We will only be able to offer individual feedback to those candidates who attend an interview.

*Booker Group is part of Tesco plc, however, is operated separately from the core Tesco business and as such the benefits offered will be different from those offered at Tesco*

For more information about us please visit www.bookergroupjobs.co.uk