Job Title: HR Assistant
Reports To: Senior HR Business Partner
Why Bates Wells?
Making a profit is core to all businesses but our goal is to combine this with a real social purpose. Our values are pivotal to us, they shape our decisions and the way we live and work.
We focus on positive social impact as much as we focus on being a successful law firm. Our top tier legal advice is coupled with a real desire to drive change and we were the first UK law firm with B Corp certification, awarded to businesses that balance purpose and profit.
Today, our clients are diverse – from corporate household names, to public bodies, to start ups. We’re also the firm of choice for thousands of charities and social enterprises. We continue to lead the market we helped to shape.
Bates Wells challenges what is possible in legal expertise delivery.
The role
You will be responsible for assisting the HR team to provide an effective HR service for all practice areas and support groups. The role is busy and varied, assisting the HR Business Partners, the Recruitment area and the Operations Team, with competing pressures at times so be prepared to bring positivity, adaptability and flexibility to the role.
Key responsibilities
Joiners and Leavers
- Acting as the main contact for the on-boarding process, including drafting contracts and offer letters, requesting references, conducting right to work checks, setting up on compliance training and scheduling and hosting the induction overview and buddy networking session
- Responsible for ensuring the joiner tracker is up to date and following up on any outstanding items
- Updating OpenHR with new joiner information
- Responsible for coordination of the monthly new joiner inductions and ensuring joiners attend within their probation periods
- Scheduling all probation meetings for all staff and the relevant line manager in a timely manner
- Assisting with maternity and paternity leavers and returners, producing letters and ensuring the HR system and payroll checklist are accurate
- Producing leaver letters and responsible for the leaver processes including removing leavers from the HR systems, updating the leaver tracker, ensuring diary invites are sent and leaver gifts are arranged
- Scheduling exit interviews for the HR Advisors/HR Business Partners
HR Administration:
- Managing the HR inbox and acting as the principle contact for general HR queries, escalating when necessary
- Responsible for organising and sending all general HR documentation including change in terms and conditions letters, end of probation letters and extension of contract letters
- Monitor fixed term contract end dates and schedule diary entries for all members of the HR team
- Ensure that all staff personnel changes are documented and updated on OpenHR
- Respond to tenancy and employment reference requests
- Assisting the HR Advisor in running reports from the HR system on an ad-hoc basis
Holidays & Absence Management:
- Logging all sickness on the HR system and payroll checklist and ensuring the HR contact is aware
- Assist the HR team with sickness absence reporting and cases
- Assisting staff with OpenHR self-service queries and updating and maintaining records for all other types of absence
Recruitment:
- Publishing all ‘Current Vacancies’ on the Bates Wells website and recruitment portal and removing when required
- Scheduling interviews in diaries, directly with candidates or through agencies, and organising candidate tests as required in conjunction the Recruitment Manager
- Managing the recruitment portal with the Recruitment Manager
- Ensuring that all recruitment administration is completed in a timely manner
- Helping to track and monitor important information during the recruitment process
Work Experience:
- Responsible for completing joining instructions and co-ordinating the induction programme for work experience placements including all placement logistics
- Assisting the HR Team with scheduling and conducting work experience interviews and inductions
Learning and Development Administration:
- Responsible for the management of the INN Group Training website, notifying fee earners of upcoming sessions and booking them on to attend
- Support the HR team with the annual appraisal process including maintaining an appraisal tracker
Salary and Benefits Administration:
- Assist the HR Advisor as required with the administration of the monthly payroll documentation e.g. overtime calculations, cost report checks
- Assist the HR Advisor as required with benefit scheme administration and benefit related initiatives
Policies and Procedures:
- Knowledge and understanding of all the firm's policies and their practical application in order to
provide advice and support to all staff
- Support in amending policies as requested
General:
- Respond to ad hoc HR queries on a day-to-day basis
- To achieve a full working knowledge of the HR database
- Undertake ad hoc projects when required
- Managing HR Secure files on Filesite
Specific tasks may change over time, so we’ll need you to be adaptable and flexible as we continue to meet our clients’ needs.
About you
- You will ideally have at least 12 months’ HR experience within the legal or professional services industry and will be keen to take on new responsibility within a supportive team.
- You will be proactive in looking to improve processes, policies or practices and will be able to work both autonomously and as part of a team (project dependent).
- You see the value in Bates Wells as a career choice and view Bates Wells as a high quality employer.
- You share our values and want to make a difference.
- You want to feel that you are a part of the Bates Wells experience and ‘belong’.
- You are not afraid to test assumptions and challenge.
- You want exposure to a variety of challenges that will allow you to innovate.
- You are technically excellent, commercially minded and have great people skills.
About us
- A one firm approach means working together and improving to achieve common goals and to provide a consistent Bates Wells experience.
- We are driven by our values and the Bates Wells Way.
- We work with exceptional clients to offer the very best work.
- We want to have a positive impact on our people who are our greatest asset so that they can have a positive impact on others. Purpose is baked into our partnership deed.
- Looking for better ways of working is always our priority.
- We promote a strong work/life balance with 25 days holiday with the opportunity to buy more and a ‘Summer in the City’ early-Friday-finish.
- We have an agile working environment – this means you might sit next to a different colleague every day or choose to work from our rooftop garden if you are in the office. We are currently reviewing our policies to enable a hybrid model moving forward.
- Our culture encourages clear and honest dialogue and cross-team support
- The firm review salaries annually as part of the appraisal process in July of each year. However, we encourage our staff to engage with their supervisors throughout the year on feedback and objective setting.
- We recognise success and contribution at any time of the year through our Recognition Scheme
- Our benefits and wellbeing package includes firm matching pension contributions, private medical insurance plus a medical benefit cash plan, discretionary bonus arrangements, life assurance, subsidised gym memberships, lifestyle discount scheme, firm-wide profit sharing scheme and an on site café.
- Everyone gets a bonus if there is one - a proportion of the LLP profit is distributed to our people when we exceed our financial thresholds.
- We are committed to your wellbeing and offer physical and mental support in the way of subsidised gym membership, private health care and in-office Mental Health Awareness Ambassadors.
About the HR team
The HR team is friendly, approachable and hard-working, who respect each other’s skills and experience. The HR help to on-board new joiners and support development for existing employees at the firm, whilst driving forward diversity & inclusion initiatives. Ultimately, it’s a team that provides support and guidance to the business throughout different aspects of day-to-day life.
How to find out more about us
Don’t forget to review our website (https://bateswells.co.uk/) and ask around about us to find out more and whether we’re the right fit for you.
NB We will normally have at least 2 interviews – to test your skills and competencies to work with us and to see if your values align with ours. |
