Advice Worker – Asylum Support

We are recruiting a part time Advice Worker – Asylum Support, £37,616 pro rata, hybrid working,

We are seeking an experienced Asylum Support Advice Worker to help deliver our new maternity health justice partnership targeting refugee and asylum seeking women in Greater Manchester and East Cheshire.   

About Maternity Action

Established in 2008, Maternity Action protects and strengthens the rights of pregnant women and new parents to employment, social security and healthcare, irrespective of migration status.

We employ specialist employment and asylum/immigration lawyers who represent women who experience maternity discrimination at work, difficulties in accessing maternity pay and benefits or are wrongly charged for their NHS maternity care. We provide second tier advice to NGOs on housing and subsistence for refugee, asylum seeking and migrant women. We support strategic litigation within our areas of expertise. Our policy and campaigning work is driven by the injustice we see from our advice services. We prioritise issues affecting low income and marginalised women, including migrant and asylum seeking women.

Maternity Action has grown over the past four years and we are now a team of 26. We are passionate about our work, but we are committed to our staff having a genuine work life balance. The majority of our employees have some form of caring responsibilities and Maternity Action is a genuinely flexible employer. 22 of our 26 staff work part time and staff are located across the UK. We have recently expanded our operations and have developed two Health Justice Partnerships with NHS Trusts.  We are funded by a variety of large charitable funders, smaller grant making organisations and unions.

About the role

We have secured funding for a 12 month pilot maternity health justice partnership targeting refugee and asylum seeking women in Greater Manchester and East Cheshire.  This is the first UK maternity health justice partnership targeting this group of women.  We have an existing maternity health justice partnership in Greater Manchester and East Cheshire which advises on employment rights, maternity pay and mainstream benefits.

You will deliver advice to pregnant women and new mothers on Home Office support and healthcare entitlements and provide ongoing advice and support where needed.  You will also refer to other support services as needed, including food banks, baby banks and community groups.  You will deliver outreach and engagement sessions to maternity services and voluntary organisations, working with our Outreach and Engagement Officer.  You will also contribute to the development, monitoring and evaluation of the pilot. The role will keep up to date with asylum support and related developments.

This role forms part of our Immigration and Asylum Advice team, which is led by our Senior Legal Officer.  The team consists of a Legal Officer, Senior Project Officer and Casework Support Officer.  The role will coordinate with the advice and outreach workers delivering our employment and benefits maternity health justice partnership in the region.

About you

We are looking for an experienced adviser with a thorough knowledge of asylum support and experience of liaising with the Home Office and Migrant Help.  You will have experience of delivering complex advice, preferably by telephone, of advocating on behalf of vulnerable client groups and working with interpreters.  You will have an excellent phone manner and the ability to deal with discussions of sensitive health issues.

We particularly welcome applications from Black and minoritised ethnic candidates and from people with lived experience of pregnancy or parenting, low income or migration.  We welcome applications from people returning from a career break.

Working arrangements

The post is 21 hours per week.  There is a core day (Thursday) and we are otherwise flexible about start/finish time and days worked, within normal business hours. 

The post can be delivered through a mix of home and office based working and will involve outreach sessions.  Office location is likely to be in Hulme, Manchester.  You must be based in the North West.

Salary is £37,616 pro rata plus 8% pension.

This is a 12 month post with the possibility of extension

How to apply

Please send us your CV and an application of no more than two sides of A4 outlining how you meet the selection criteria.

The closing date for applications is 5 June 2024.  Interviews will be held remotely on 13 June 2024.