People Relations Partner

About the role

The People Relations Partner position is responsible for providing hands-on partnership and support to the business in the areas of Employee Relations (ER), Investigations, ADA, Policy and Legal Compliance interpretation. This hands-on role reports directly to the Sr. Manager, People Relations. The role has no direct reports. The focus will be on leveraging Cupertino Electric’s (CEI) culture and policy to solve employee relations and compliance-related issues.

Responsibilities

• Provide partnership and support to business line stakeholders by advising employees and management on HR policies, processes, procedures, laws and regulations.
• Research and identify concerns and coordinate problem resolution.
• Develop processes to proactively address employee concerns, increase employee engagement, and reduce turnover.
• Stay current on and interpret and execute compliance initiatives, company policies and regulations.
• Guide managers on employee management, discipline, and terminations and working with the HR Business Partner(s) to resolve issues.
• Collaborate with internal Legal partner(s) to ensure compliance with all relevant state and federal guidelines.
• Evaluate ER issues and investigations for employment law conflicts and escalate to Legal as required.
• Conduct all degrees of EEO and other HR investigations by collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data; conduct interviews; make recommendations based on investigation findings; identify potential action steps; fully document investigation findings; provide updates to HR Business Partner(s), as well as to internal Compliance and Legal Partner(s); and provide input for the creation of corrective action plans for substantiated allegations.
• Manage and maintain investigation tracking system to monitor and bring cases to resolution, in partnership with the HR Business Partner(s) as well as with the internal Compliance and Legal partner(s).
• Support and participate in employee relations training under the guidance of HR Business Partner(s) and the Sr. Manager, People Relations by advising employees and management on policies, procedures, and documentation; provide needs assessments to inform training objectives; and partner on the development and delivery of formal education and training.
• Promote business ethics and CEI core values in all efforts.

Requirements

Learning and growth mindset: Understanding trends and continuously seeking to improve yourself and the experience for employees. The ability to see situations from all perspectives and work through conflicts and complex performance concerns for the best possible outcomes for everyone involved. Strong critical thinking and analytical skills: Especially in complex and nuanced situations. Strong interpersonal skills: The ability to interact and communicate verbally and in writing effectively at all levels of the company. Collaboration skills: Track record of strong collaboration skills, and highly trusted. Requires a high level of discretion due to the sensitive nature of activities within the People organization. Ability to effectively engage and calibrate approach with all levels of the workforce. Excellent written and verbal communication skills: Experience handling multiple projects simultaneously, and working in an environment that requires flexibility, innovation, superb customer service skills, and organization. Presentation skills: Experience with developing and delivering effective ER and Compliance presentations, and training material to a variety of audiences. Good understanding of employment regulations and ability to translate policies to action. Empathy skills: Strong influencing and empathy, facilitating, process development, analysis, and problem-solving skills. A process-driven, background with a systems-thinking mindset.

Qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s Degree; Juris Doctor, preferred Licensure/Certifications: HR training/certification in Investigations, preferred Experience: Typically requires a minimum of eight (8) years in Employee Relations in an HR function (with Bachelor’s degree); six (6) years and Master’s degree; or a Juris Doctor with 3 years experience; or equivalent experience Basic working knowledge of applicable state and federal laws and regulations, including FLSA, EEO/AA, ADA, Workers’ Compensation regulations, DFEH, EEOC, FMLA and CFRABasic knowledge and understanding of employment law implications on ER issuesExperience conducting all types of employment investigations and the ability to escalate for Legal attention as requiredExperience working with union and non-union workforces or equivalent experience Physical Requirements & Working Conditions: The position will be based in the Eastern or Central Regions of the United States and could be done from a remote (home) location. There is regular and required monthly travel to our project jobsites/locations (up to 50% of travel per month). The expected cadence for physical presence at the project jobsites/locations will be one to two weeks rotational each month.