HR officer jobs in councils

An HR officer in a council advises managers on employee relations cases, supports restructures and recruitment, and applies the council’s policies on everything from sickness absence to flexible working. Casework is the bulk of the job: you sit in on disciplinary, grievance and capability meetings, advise on process, and draft the letters. Most posts ask for a CIPD qualification or a willingness to study for one. Pay follows local grades on the NJC pay spine, which for 2026/27 runs from £25,614 to £56,293.

How council HR teams are set up

A district council may have an HR team of a handful of people covering everything. A large county or metropolitan council usually splits HR into specialist parts:

• an advisory or employee relations team handling cases and manager queries
• business partners attached to directorates such as adult social care or children’s services
• a recruitment team or shared service, often linked to payroll
• specialists in pay and reward, job evaluation, organisational development and learning
• an HR service sold to schools

Job titles reflect this. HR assistant is an entry-level administrative post, HR officer or adviser handles casework, and senior adviser, business partner and HR manager posts sit above. Some councils share HR with neighbouring councils or with an NHS body.

The casework

A typical caseload includes conduct cases, grievances, long-term and frequent short-term sickness absence, capability on performance or health grounds, and appeals. The manager runs the process and makes the decision. Your job is to advise on the policy, the law and what a fair outcome looks like, take or check notes, and make sure the paperwork holds up if the case reaches an employment tribunal.

The Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures is the baseline. Tribunals can adjust compensation by up to 25 per cent if an employer or employee unreasonably fails to follow it, and workers have the right to be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative at disciplinary and grievance hearings. Disciplinary procedures covers the employee’s side of the same process.

Councils are heavily unionised, so you will work with UNISON, GMB and Unite representatives on individual cases and with the recognised unions collectively on policy changes and restructures. A good working relationship with reps helps resolve cases without formal hearings.

Other recurring work includes:

• reasonable adjustments for disabled staff and referrals to occupational health
• flexible working requests, which are a day-one right and must be decided within two months
• restructures, including consultation, selection for redundancy and redeployment
• TUPE transfers when services are outsourced or brought back in-house
• job evaluation and grading appeals, often using the NJC or another council scheme
• DBS and safer recruitment advice for posts working with children or adults at risk

What happens in a council restructure explains the restructure process from the staff side.

Employment law is changing

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is being brought in over several years, and council HR teams are rewriting policies to keep up. Measures already in force include Statutory Sick Pay from the first day of sickness from 6 April 2026 and a longer time limit for most employment tribunal claims, raised from three to six months from 1 October 2026. A duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment is scheduled for 30 October 2026.

The government’s timeline schedules the unfair dismissal qualifying period to fall from two years to six months for dismissals from 1 January 2027. That will bring many more staff within reach of an unfair dismissal claim and puts more weight on probation reviews and early-stage management. All future dates are subject to parliamentary process. Employment Rights Act 2025: what’s changing and when tracks the timetable.

CIPD and other qualifications

Most council HR posts ask for a qualification from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, or study towards one. In broad terms:

• the CIPD Level 3 Foundation Certificate suits HR assistants and administrators
• the Level 5 Associate Diploma is the usual expectation for HR officers and advisers
• the Level 7 Advanced Diploma, often studied alongside a master’s degree, is common for business partners and managers

Councils often fund study for existing staff, and HR apprenticeships at Level 3 and Level 5 are widely used in local government. People also move into HR on experience, from council admin, payroll, recruitment or a union rep role. If your CIPD or union subscription is on HMRC’s approved list, you can claim tax relief on it; tax relief on professional fees explains how.

Employers look for good judgement, careful writing, discretion with confidential information and the ability to tell a senior manager that their plan will not survive a tribunal.

Pay and conditions

Each council builds its own grades on the NJC pay spine, which rose by 3.3 per cent from 1 April 2026. As an illustration only, an HR assistant grade on SCP 7 to SCP 11 would pay £27,274 to £29,071, an HR officer grade on SCP 20 to SCP 25 would pay £33,673 to £37,563, and a senior adviser grade on SCP 29 to SCP 33 would pay £41,177 to £45,529. London boroughs add their own weighting, and some councils sit outside the national spine altogether. Council pay grades explained shows how grades are built.

You join the Local Government Pension Scheme. In 2026/27 the main section rate is 6.5 per cent on pay from £29,001 to £47,300. Green Book leave starts at 23 days plus 8 public holidays and 2 extra-statutory days, rising to 26 days after five years. Hybrid working is common in council HR teams, though case meetings are often in person.

Moving between sectors

Council HR experience transfers well to the NHS, schools, police staff and the Civil Service, all of which have their own terms and policies but similar casework. HR jobs in the NHS covers the NHS equivalent on Agenda for Change bands. Council vacancies appear on council sites and regional portals; how to get a council job covers the application stage.