The following information has been designed to provide you with basic information about the Certificate in Employment Relations, Law and Practice (CERLAP), and to answer some of the initial questions that you may have about the programme.
We would recommend that whilst you read through this information, you make a note of any questions or concerns that you have, so that you can raise them either with your Personal Tutor or at the Introductory Workshop. You may also like to comprehensively read through and become familiar with the Candidate’s Handbook, which contains all the scheme rules for the CERLAP.
1) What do I need to do to pass the Certificate in Employment Relations, Law and Practice?
To pass the CERLAP, you will need to attend the following course modules:
- Introductory Workshop/Employment Law in Context (2 days)
- The Employment Law Practitioner – a complete approach (3 days)
- Setting up Employment Contracts (2 days)
- Managing Absence and Tackling Poor Performance (1 day)
- How to handle difficult interviews (2 days)
You need to complete and pass two skills-based assignments (undertaken as part of and directly after the course modules) and two written assignments (of 1500 – 2000 words), with the support of your personal tutor. In addition, you will complete and pass an investigative integrated project (which includes a project proposal and development plan, as well as the written project of 3000 words) and complete and pass the self-study assessment exercises.
2) How long do I have to complete the CERLAP?
You have two years to complete the CERLAP, although it is possible to complete the programme in a significantly shorter period of time, by simply shortening the time between the course modules. We have provided you with a suggested calendar and would recommend that you spend some time before beginning the programme thinking and planning how your studies will fit in with your work and home lives.
The important things to remember are:
- the best way to reinforce and consolidate your learning is to attend the course module and complete the assessment (either a written assignment or skills-based assignment and the self-study) before attending the next course module
- you must complete and submit your self-study, CPD (Continuing Professional Development plan) and all elements of the integrated project within six months of attending your final course module
- we would recommend that you allow yourself at least six months to complete all elements of the integrated project.
3) What does the Certificate in Employment Relations,Law and Practice qualification mean to me?
The CERLAP is a foundation-level standard, at an equivalent level to NVQ/SVQ Level 3 in Personnel. Successful candidates receive the CIPD Certificate in Employment Relations, Law and Practice and are eligible for Associate membership of the Institute. This is the first step towards full membership of the CIPD: the leading professional body in the field of personnel, training and development. We have over 120,000 members throughout the UK and Ireland, so you’ll find joining the CIPD will put you in good company. Being a member will enhance your career prospects and open tremendous development and networking opportunities.
As a member you’ll be able to take advantage of exceptional member benefits and services, which include:
- access to our comprehensive Library and Information Services
- exclusive access to the latest information and research on our website
- access to a range of events delivered through our brand and forum networks
- exclusive discounts on all CIPD conferences, publications and training courses
- free subscription to our award-winning fortnightly magazine People Management.
Full details on membership and how you can upgrade to become a full member of CIPD (following successful completion of the CERLAP) is in Section 9 of the Candidate’s Handbook.
4) What is my personal tutor for?
Your personal tutor will provide you with support, coaching and expertise throughout your certificate programme. They are experts in the field of employment law, and are available as often as you need. Please feel free to show them draft outlines and copies of your written assignments and project (help with the skills-based assignments will be provided by the course tutors), and they will be able to give you plenty of feedback and advice on areas of improvement.
Initially, your personal tutor will contact you (within three weeks of receiving the Candidate’s Handbook) to discuss your expectations of the certificate, and to answer any questions or concerns that you may have.
5) How much reading do I have to do?
You will be supplied with the Employment Law for People Managers Manual when you attend the Introductory Workshop, which will provide you with core knowledge in each of the areas of employment law and practice that you will focus on. The self-study workbook also contains extensive reading material, and we would recommend that you cover each of the four units as you progress through the course modules, in order to consolidate your learning, and help you with your written assignments and integrated project. It is estimated that during your study for the certificate you should complete 40 hours of reading (which obviously depends on your personal reading speed!).
6) What do we do on the Introductory Workshop?
The purpose of the Introductory Workshop is to make you aware of the requirements of the Certificate in Employment Relations, Law and Practice (including all of the different assignments and assessment materials). You will also cover the knowledge and content related to Employee Relations and Organisational Context. There will also be a clinic at the end of the two days to answer any outstanding questions or concerns that you may have.
The Introductory Workshop will only be attended by Certificate in Employment Law and Practice students who are beginning the programme at the same time as you, so all attendees will have the same level of prior experience and knowledge of the Certificate.
7) What do I have to do on the course modules?
The course modules are public courses offered by CIPD Training. This means that they will be attended by other non-certificate delegates (attending a one-off training course) as well as other certificate students. The courses are not intended to be forums to discuss assignment requirements (except for the Introductory Workshop, which will provide a comprehensive understanding at the beginning of the programme), rather they will provide you with content, knowledge and skills that you can transfer and use back in the workplace. You will have the opportunity to translate this content, knowledge and skills, into the self-study assessment exercises, your skills-based and written assignments, and integrated project.
It is recommended that you think about your personal learning objectives before attending the course modules, and you may wish to discuss them with your Line Manager.
8) Is there any pre-course work for the course modules?
All of the course modules do not have pre-course work. However as part of the joining instructions, there is a pre-course assessment form which you should fill in and return, so that the course tutor has prior knowledge about your experiences and expectations of each of the course modules.
9) How do I book course dates for next year?
When you book your course modules, you may book all of your courses. In order to allow you to forward plan, we try to make course module dates available for the next 12 months. If you have not completed all of your course modules by the autumn, we will write to you with dates for the forthcoming year.
As the course modules are expected to be popular with students and non-certificate delegates, we recommend you forward plan your studies. If you are concerned about booking dates, please contact either the Certificate Co-ordinator or the Customer Service team (see key contacts below), who will be able to inform you which dates you have currently booked, and which dates are still available.
10) How do I change dates of courses?
Once course modules have been booked changes may be made. There is an extensive cancellation and transfer policy, which can be found on your booking form. All cancellations and requests to transfer must be made in writing.
Transfers
There will be no charge for transferring to an alternative date, provided the request is received in writing more than ten working days before the start of the event. This applies to a maximum of three transfers after which an admin fee of £100 will be charged. Requests to transfer received within ten working days of the event will be subject to a transfer fee of 30% of the event fees.
Cancellations
Once an application for a certificate is received, any student who cancels from the certificate programme as a whole will be subject to a cancellation fee of 25% of the fees for all outstanding certificate modules that they have yet to attend.
For any information regarding transfers or cancellations, please contact either the Certificate Co-ordinator or the Customer Service team (see key contacts below).
11) What do I need to include in my written assignments?
The written assignments are an opportunity for you to consolidate your learning and to investigate how to improve aspects of personnel practice in your own organisation. It is important to analyse the current situation in your organisation, and to conclude and even make recommendations for improvements or changes that could be made. Full assessment criteria for the written assignments can be found in section 3 and appendix 1 of the Candidate’s Handbook.
Please pay special attention to the format in which you must submit your assignments: you must include the word count, and you need to sign and date the assignment, and declare that it is your own work. Refer to page 31 of the Candidate’s Handbook.
12) What are the skills-based assignments?
The skills-based assignments are an opportunity to practice and assess the skills that you will develop as part of the certificate programme – in particular, your communication skills about employment legislation, and your interview skills. In addition, they provide assessment on common elements and skills, such as presentation, interpersonal and feedback skills. There are two skills-based assignments. One is an integrated part of one of the course modules, and will be undertaken by all participants on the course. Full details will be given by the course tutor on the day, and can be found on pages 37 – 42 of the Candidate’s Handbook. The other skills based assignment should be completed within two weeks of completing the Employment Law Practitioner course. Again full details are given in the Candidate’s Handbook.
13) How do I submit my assignments?
You will work with your Personal Tutor on the outline plan and draft of your written assignments. Five-weeks before formally submitting your written assignments to CIPD for assessment, you will need to inform the Certificate Co-ordinator that you intend to do so. A simple letter or email to the Certificate Co-ordinator is all that is necessary, and they will confirm your date for submission. The same procedure is followed for the integrated project.
The first skills-based assignment should be completed directly after the Employment Law Practitioner course and submitted to the personal tutor who will assess them. The second skills-based assignment will be completed on the course (How to handle difficult interviews) and the tutor will assess them on the course.
If you need an extension to complete the skills-based assignment, you will need to contact the Certificate Co-ordinator the day following the course to request one. If authorised, you will need to submit your skills-based assignments within two weeks of your course attendance.
14) How will I be informed of my results?
CIPD will normally inform you of the results of your written and skills-based assignments and projects within 4 weeks of you submitting your work. The internal moderator will also assess a sample of all assignments and projects and where this is the case, the process takes a little longer.
15) What do I do with my self-study materials?
The self-study materials are split into several parts - the self-study workbook, the CIPD Employment Law for People Managers Manual and the self-study assessment exercises. The workbook and manual contain all of the self-study reading, and references to other sources of information. Some of these areas have assessment exercises attached to them (16 in total). You must complete and submit all 16 exercises along with your integrated project.
Your personal tutor can provide support and advice for the self-study materials, but they are intended to be fully comprehensive, and relate to the content and material covered on the course modules.
16) What is Continuing Professional Development (CPD)?
The CIPD believes strongly in the importance of Continuing Professional Development (lifelong learning, or self-development). It is about the learning and development that you undertake and the method you use to reflect on and record this learning. You must engage in planned activity, personal and professional, at work and outside work, formal and informal. Your record can then demonstrate:
- how you’ve learnt
- evidence that you’ve reflected on the experience
- you have thought about where you go next.
The CIPD have produced suggested templates and forms on which you can record your CPD. These are in the format of a table to record your CPD and a plan for what CPD you will be undertaking (this is called your PDP – Personal Development Plan). Full details and tables for CPD are in Section 5 of the Candidate’s Handbook.
17) What CPD do I have to do?
In order to be a fully effective personnel professional, we would recommend that you undertake CPD throughout your working life. In order to pass the Certificate in Employment Relations, Law and Practice, you will need to submit a PDP with specific relation to the integrated project, which needs to be sent at the same time as your project proposal. In addition, you are required to keep a CPD record throughout your time on the programme, and to submit this with your project at the end of the certificate. Full details and tables for CPD are in Section 5 of the Candidate’s Handbook.
18) Who are the key contacts for the Certificate programme?
Your primary contact for the duration of the CERLAP is the Certificate Co-ordinator. Full details for all points of contact are:
Your Personal Tutor details are on the information sheet about the role of the personal tutor, and comprehensive contact details can be found in the Candidate’s Handbook on page 8.