How long is the Diploma in Employee Relations?

The Diploma in Employee Relations runs 9 to 12 months, with evening pacing available for working HR generalists and ER advisers at UK employers.

Can the Diploma in Employee Relations be studied online?

Yes. The Diploma in Employee Relations is delivered on-campus in London, fully online and by distance learning against the same ER-dossier capstone.

What are the entry requirements for the Diploma in Employee Relations?

A Level 3 certificate or two years' HR or line-management experience, GCSE English and Maths (grade 4/C), IELTS 5.5 for international applicants and a statement of intent.

What does the Diploma in Employee Relations cost?

Fees for the Diploma in Employee Relations vary by study mode and domicile. Contact LSIBM admissions for the current schedule, instalment plans and bursary eligibility.

Diploma in Employee Relations | LSIBM London | Harold International College of London

Course Overview

The Diploma in Employee Relations at the London School of International Business and Management (LSIBM) is a Level 4 practitioner qualification inside the Human Resources & Leadership faculty. Across 9 to 12 months it takes HR generalists, ER advisers and union-liaison staff from case-handling basics into working ER — grievance and disciplinary at complex level, tribunal preparation, union consultation and settlement conversations, framed by the CIPD Profession Map and current published Employment Tribunal decisions.

Study is on-campus in central London, fully online, or by distance learning. Content is designed around the CIPD Associate Diploma in People Practice and the ACAS Code of Practice, and includes a Chartered Institute of Arbitrators-informed mediation workshop. The capstone is a full ER dossier — a complex casework file, a tribunal-facing chronology and a recommended settlement position — reviewed by a working ER lead rather than marked against a textbook rubric.

Key Features

Designed around the CIPD Associate Diploma in People Practice and the ACAS Code of Practice.
Three study modes — central London campus, fully online, or distance learning.
Full ER-dossier capstone reviewed by a working CIPD-chartered ER lead.
Mediation workshop informed by Chartered Institute of Arbitrators practice.
Employment-tribunal preparation module using published UK ET decisions.
Structured route toward CIPD Associate membership, with tutor coaching on the CIPD assessment.
Portfolio-plus-oral assessment combining the dossier with a live hearing simulation.
Direct progression onto the LSIBM Advanced Diploma in Employee Relations with credit transfer confirmed.

What You Will Learn

The diploma is anchored around what an ER adviser actually delivers — a defensible file, a clean hearing, a settlement conversation that closes cleanly and without a Monday-morning grievance appeal. You will finish able to run casework end-to-end and prepare a file that would survive tribunal scrutiny.

Complex grievance and disciplinary at ER-adviser level.
Employment-tribunal preparation and chronology drafting.
UK employment law refresher — unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing.
Trade-union recognition and collective consultation.
TUPE at working level for mid-market UK employers.
Settlement agreements and without-prejudice conversations.
Mediation practice at introductory level.
Absence management at complex level, including long-term ill health.
Applying the CIPD Profession Map behaviours to ER practice.
Privacy, data protection and record-keeping under UK GDPR for ER files.
Writing an ER dossier that survives tribunal scrutiny.

Who This Course Is For

HR generalists moving into a formal ER remit.
ER advisers stepping up to complex casework and tribunal preparation.
Union-liaison staff on the employer side.
Line-manager cohorts at UK employers running their own casework.
Compliance and legal-operations staff supporting an HR function.

Career Pathways

Graduates typically move into ER-adviser, case-manager and HR-business-partner roles across UK mid-market, PLC and public-sector employers. The diploma supports strong applications but does not by itself guarantee an offer — a defended dossier and a clean mediation transcript are often the deciding artefacts. Typical destinations include:

Employee Relations Adviser
ER Case Manager
HR Business Partner (ER remit)
Trade Union Liaison Officer
Tribunal Preparation Analyst
Head of Employee Relations (small employer)
People Operations Manager (ER-heavy)

The Diploma in Employee Relations is the natural step onto the LSIBM Advanced Diploma in Employee Relations and CIPD Associate membership. Graduates commonly progress toward CIPD Chartered Associate status within two years.

Entry Requirements

A relevant Certificate (Level 3) or equivalent — mature applicants with two years of professional HR or line-management experience are welcomed on a portfolio route.
GCSE English Language at grade 4/C and Mathematics at grade 4/C (or international equivalent).
IELTS 5.5 overall (no band below 5.0) for non-native English speakers.
A short statement of intent and one academic or professional reference.

Why Study at LSIBM

The London School of International Business and Management (LSIBM) is a specialist business-education provider based in central London and part of Harold International College. We teach in small cohorts so every student is visible to their tutor, run a single intake schedule that students can rely on, and partner with UK professional bodies — CMI, CIM, CIPD, ACCA, CIMA, CFA UK, CIPS and IOE&IT — so qualifications carry weight with employers.

London puts the City, Canary Wharf, Whitehall, Companies House, the FCA, the Bank of England and the West End within a short tube ride of every classroom. Diploma cohorts run structured cohort clinics with working practitioners — a Big-Four tax adviser, a CIM Fellow in marketing, a CIPD-chartered HR director — so students meet professional expectations well before graduation.

Apply for the Diploma in Employee Relations

Take the practitioner step with the Diploma in Employee Relations. Click Enrol Now and our admissions team will respond within one working day with intake dates, credit-transfer guidance and current fee schedule. Diploma students are eligible for direct progression to LSIBM's Advanced Diploma or Higher Diploma routes on completion.