The Liberal Democrats have for the past six years employed a Pastoral Care Officer, responsible for supporting party members and staff who encounter difficulties in connection with their membership of, or employment by, the party. The post-holder intervenes as necessary and provides or signposts support as appropriate.

The successful applicant works in particular to ensure that any concerns relating to personal conduct within the Party are managed appropriately, and that any issues which cannot be resolved locally are referred to the Standards Officer for consideration within the Party’s disciplinary process, or to the Head of HR if it is a staff disciplinary matter.

The post-holder is responsible for monitoring complaints of this sort, ensuring they are fully recorded, arranging appropriate Pastoral Care Services if required, and acting as Safeguarding Officer in the Party for young people and vulnerable adults.
The Pastoral Care Officer plays a role in promoting positive behavioural practices throughout the Party.
Developing the role further for the future, within the HR team the post-holder will act as ‘wellbeing officer’ providing a practical first port of call for staff with worries about occupational health, domestic, financial, emotional, safety, security or harassment issues. They will help find and signpost appropriate professional support (but are not expected to provide specialist care and should not attempt to do so).

Focusing on the mental and physical health, the post-holder will design and implement policies and practices to improve overall occupational health and wellbeing of Party and Parliamentary staff, gathering data as relevant and working with the Party’s occupational health providers.
It will therefore be important to keep up to speed with the latest thinking on this topic and try different techniques and technologies to influence workplace wellbeing and improve productivity and performance.

https://www.libdems.org.uk/pastoral_care_officer