Senior Employee Relations Advisor, People & Talent

About the role

The Senior Employee Relations Advisor at WGU plays a crucial part in helping students graduate by resolving workplace conflicts and providing guidance on employee relations.

Responsibilities

• Conducts investigations in response to a range of employee relations concerns, including harassment, discrimination, retaliation, workplace violence, and other violations of rules, regulations, policies, and best practices.
• Collaborates with leaders and employees to resolve complex employee relations issues, working toward effective resolutions.
• Ledges and assists in employee relations investigations and escalated issues, reorganizations, disciplinary actions, terminations, and complex unemployment issues.
• Communicates regularly regarding pending investigations and provides timely investigation reports with supporting documentation for all completed investigations.
• Leverages expertise in training, leadership development, leave management, unemployment, and benefits to provide client-group support.
• Manages ER caseload, ensuring submission and use of Case Management tool to actively manage open cases.
• Effectively manages assigned ER compliance related functions, including policy management, training, and monitoring of trends.
• Manages processes related to ER Compliance such as employment processes, harassment/ discrimination training, etc.
• Ensures uniform and equitable application of organizational policies and practices.
• Provides coaching and training on relevant topics to leaders and employees.
• Develops effective relationships with People & Talent (HR Business Partners) to promote positive employee relations across the university to ensure a high level of employee satisfaction and engagement.
• Proactively analyzes and interprets ER data and trends, providing timely reports to business partners, OGC, and business leaders to support future actions.
• Maintains an active individual professional development plan to ensure current knowledge on employment laws and regulations.

Qualifications

• Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in human resources or related field OR equivalent combination of education and employee relations experience. 5+ years of human resources experience including 3+ years of employee relations experience.
• Preferred Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources or related field. Employee relations experience in a higher education or high-tech environment. Experience with employment laws and regulations from multiple states. Experience conducting employee relations at a national level organization with a distributed workforce. Formalized training and instruction in Title IX, Title VII, and conducting investigations. Experience with alternative dispute resolution processes. Experience using AI tools.