Job Description: Rights Adviser (Employment)

Job Purpose

• Working Families is the UK’s charity for working parents and carers and our mission is to remove the barriers that people with caring responsibilities face in the workplace. Our work is needed more than ever;  we hear from parents and carers who are struggling to get by and need to continue to work and provide for their families during a cost-of-living crisis. Access to flexible and secure work is key.

  Our legal advice service is award-winning, providing free employment law advice to parents and carers, the majority of whom are women and on low income. Read our impact report for the last financial year which includes case studies and testimonials and our Legal Advice Service deep dive provides more information.

  Our Legal Advice Service advises parents and carers through our comprehensive advice pages and free legal email and phone helpline and supports Working Families' rigorous research and campaigns which have shaped national policy in these areas. 

  Our team works at the forefront of access to justice for parents and carers at work. Many parents and carers find that the ‘system’ – including employers’ approaches to flexible working, available in-work benefits, leave and entitlement to time off – doesn’t allow them to work and care and thrive. We want to change that.   

  Our award-winning free helpline individually advised over 1,700 parents and carers on their rights at work in the FY year 2022/2023 and over 1.3 million people via our comprehensive online advice pages. This ranges from advice on pregnancy, maternity and sex discrimination, unfair dismissals; negotiating flexible working; dealing with childcare emergencies; advice on maternity, adoption and shared parental leave and pay; redundancy. We also have specialist in-work benefits advisors in the team.    Our team won the Law Society's In House Team of the Year Excellence in Law Award in 2021 for our work during the pandemic.

  The purpose of your role within the legal advice team would be to help to equip the UK’s 13 million parents and carers with the tools they need to thrive in a system that often prevents them from doing so. If you have a strong commitment to justice, awareness of issues that parents and carers face and want to join a small dedicated team advising the UK’s parents and carers, we want to hear from you.  

  Role Overview

  We are looking for a professional and enthusiastic adviser to join the legal advice team. Ideally, we are looking for an employment lawyer or an experienced employment rights adviser.  The role could also suit someone who is not legally qualified but can demonstrate exceptional ability to grasp complex legal issues, and who has experience in advising on employment rights. We think flexible working should be the norm, not the exception. This role can be done flexibly. The number of hours worked each week and the days of work will need to be consistent, but we accept applicants who can commit to 22.5 hours each week.

  Department

  Legal Advice Service (LAS)

  Reports to

  Head of Legal Advice Service (or CEO/SLT in their absence)

  Location

  Remote, with up to one day per month working in London office

  Salary

  £29,000 - £34,000 FTE (pro rata £17,400 - £20,400) (depending on experience and qualifications)

  Hours

  Your hours to be agreed with your line manager can be spread across 3, 4 or 5 days (no session should be shorter than 3 hours). Up to one day per month will need to be worked from the Working Families office in London. This may be reviewed or changed subject to the requirements of the Charity. A small amount of travel and evening work will be required, usually with notice.

  Key Responsibilities

  Within the LAS team:

  • Provide relevant and correct legal advice and practical guidance to parents and carers on their in-work benefits and employment rights on WF’s helpline and via email. This includes advice on:

    • Maternity, adoption, shared parental leave,

    • Discrimination, dismissals, and redundancy,

    • Emergency and parental leave,

    • In-work benefits and help with childcare costs,

    • Flexible working,

    • Imposed change and breach of contract,

    • Issues arising for parents and carers of disabled dependants,

    • Settlement agreements and employment tribunal processes.

  • Enrich WF’s Advice webpages and other publications and ensure content remains relevant and up to date.

  • Keep abreast of changes in employment, social security or other relevant support for disadvantaged parents.

  • Assisting with the day-to-day management of the Pro Bono Advice platform including liaising with and providing training and feedback to existing pro bono volunteers

  • Assisting with the Working Families data collection and monitoring requirements of service users, advice records and volunteers;

  • Help to maintain and develop the LAS precedent bank.  

  • As a team help to develop and improve tools and processes for engaging LAS with parents and carers who use our service.

  • Contribute to regular newsletters for parents, volunteers and advice professionals.

  • Assisting with providing outreach and training on parental employment rights and in-work benefits when required.

  • Help with other projects from time to time to improve and increase the reach, impact and efficiency of the Legal Advice Service, including reviewing our database/client recording and other internal processes.

   

  Within the wider charity:

  • Help identify policy and strategic issues for WF’s research and policy team.

  • Providing data and case studies for other teams within the charity for Policy and Comms.

  • Support fundraising activities for WF, including by providing statistics, contributing to applications and reporting requirements and anonymised case studies for funding applications.  

  • Support the Marketing & Communications team, including responding to media enquiries and checking for legal accuracy in communication outputs, helping ensure Working Families is positioned as the leading voice on families, work, and work life balance.

   

  Contribute to the wider Working Families team, undertaking any other reasonable duties as directed.

  Person Specification                   

   

  Person Specification - Essential

   

  Advice

  • Knowledge of employment rights and discrimination law, particularly those relevant to parents and carers

  • Ability to respond to callers in an empathetic and professional manner

  • Ability to write clearly about complex issues in an accessible manner, providing people with practical solutions to questions and issues they are currently facing

   

  Policy and Communication

  • Awareness of the social and political issues relevant to Working Families: including parental rights at work, work-life balance, affordability of childcare, disability, and benefits

  • Ability to assist the policy team in wider policy work and government consultations on these issues

   

  Wider

  • Ability and enthusiasm for working co-operatively in a small team of advisers

  • Ability to engage with and/or supervise a wider team of volunteers

  • Ability to set priorities and manage competing demands

  • Genuine interest in the values and mission of Working Families

   

  Desirable

   

  • Legal qualification as a solicitor or barrister or studying for a degree in law

  • Knowledge of case law, and confidence in using textbooks and online resources to conduct legal research and support practice

  • Expertise in and experience of advising on employment rights and discrimination, benefits and/or other support available to families

  • Experience of providing telephone advice and/or email advice to members of the public

  • Experience of planning and writing publications, website articles and/or reports for members of the public

  • Experience working with parents of disabled children or own experiences of being a carer

  • Experience of working on social media platforms and the ability to manage and enrich a support group for parents and carers through social media

  • Experience of providing external training to a wide audience including second tier advisers

  • Experience of working with public bodies to shape policy and law

  • Experience of using a case management database to record advice

  Deadline for applications is 11am on Tuesday 5th March.

  Successful candidates will be invited to an interview which will include a written test which will be sent to you 1 hour before you allocated interview time, followed by a Zoom/Teams meeting. Interviews will take place on Tuesday 12th March. Please allow two hours for the written test and interview.

  Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.

  We have a real need for advisor cover on a Friday but other working days can be agreed. The core hours we need cover for is 9.30am - 3pm. Working hours and days would be subject to agreement during the offer process.