Job Description & Person Specification

Hours:                                    21-35 per week (35 hours is full time)

Responsible To:                    Employment & Discrimination Solicitor (Team Leader)

(Bristol) Office or hybrid working (at least 50% office based)

Salary: £25,000 - £27,500 (pro rata)

Plus, generous leave entitlement (equivalent to 6 weeks plus the time between Christmas and New Year), 7% employer contribution pension, flexible working policies and friendly working environment near the centre of Bristol.

Job purpose

As a trainee caseworker you will work in a passionate and committed Law Centre team learning to deliver high quality specialist legal advice within employment law and civil law, to individuals who may have experienced discrimination or other unfair treatment. Alongside training in Employment and Discrimination law you will pick up casework and direct client work under the supervision of the Employment and Discrimination Team Leader.

Trainee Caseworker duties:

1. Assess client needs and provide assistance to those eligible; dealing with initial enquiries from the public and via our frontline A team, partners and other referrers.
2. Giving information and advice to clients to empower them to act on their own behalf.
3. To provide detailed casework to eligible clients on their Employment and Discrimination matters. 
4. Work with case selection criteria and case management processes to support the delivery of  agreed grant outcomes and help ensure resources are used to help as many clients as possible receive a positive outcome.
5. Engage with training and keep abreast of current and upcoming practice and case law in the field of Employment and Discrimination.
6. Meet casework outcomes and targets as required by the Law Centre and its funders. 
7. Ensure work is appropriately time recorded and cases are progressed and closed in a timely way.
8. Ensure the highest standards of client care and participate in peer and file review systems.
9. Comply with case management systems, administrative procedures and quality standards as required by funding bodies and by the Law Centre.
10. Work and behave in a professional manner and to high standards.

General duties

1. Attend appropriate training courses and maintain readership of relevant publications in order to maintain and develop professional expertise.
2. Actively contribute to internal meetings, including cascading learning and sharing knowledge with other teams and for cross team working on cases and for triage.
3. Attend regular supervision to discuss job performance and career development.
4. Comply with the Law Centre’s policies and procedures
5. Travel, on occasion, to other locations to deliver duties.
6. Carry out such other duties as may be reasonably required.

Person Specification

Essential

• Knowledge and understanding of legal processes, particularly in Employment and/or Discrimination, or experience of undertaking casework in another area of law.
• Ability to work under pressure to a high standard and meet deadlines.
• Good organisational, prioritising and time management skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Can demonstrate ability to work with vulnerable people/clients with complex problems, communication challenges and disabilities.
• Experience of and commitment to team working and being subject to supervision.
• Can demonstrate a keen commitment to learning and development.
• Commitment to sharing learning, skills and knowledge within and outside of your team and the Law Centre (e.g. with charitable agencies and the wider community).
• An understanding of and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
• Commitment to delivery of social justice, and to the Law Centre’s mission.

Desirable

• Educated to degree level, or equivalent qualification, or training and experience in a relevant role.
• Employment Law: an understanding or experience of advice, casework and representation, ideally for employees/individuals.
• Discrimination Law: an understanding or experience of advice, casework and representation within an employment law and/or non-employment law context, i.e. Employment Tribunal and civil court litigation experience.
• Experience of paperless working, including using case management software and cloud-based file sharing.
• Experience of preparing for audits (e.g. for the Legal Aid Agency and Lexcel)
• Experience of working on grant funded projects, and/or working in the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (charity) sector.
• Demonstrable understanding of partnership working and relationship management with a range of other organisations.
• Ability to prepare and deliver presentations or training.