Senior HR Generalist

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage all aspects of HR compliance, ensuring total adherence to local, state, and federal labor laws, regulations, and reporting requirements.
• Conduct regular internal audits of personnel files, Form I-9s, payroll practices, wage/hour classifications, and safety records to mitigate risk.
• Handle complex employee relations issues, disputes, corrective actions, and HR investigations, ensuring legally sound documentation and outcomes.
• Manage compliance-focused onboarding, offboarding, and full employee lifecycle processes, ensuring all statutory and company-required notices are delivered.
• Oversee and refine new employee onboarding activities to guarantee a compliant and smooth organizational transition.
• Act as the primary subject matter expert and point of contact for employee and manager inquiries regarding compliance, policies, and statutory leave.
• Drive the continuous development, update, and implementation of HR policies, standard operating procedures, and the employee handbook.
• Communicate collaboratively with leadership to influence, develop, implement, and manage compliant policies, programs, and services across recruitment, performance, and retention.
• Effectively interface with all levels of the organization to coordinate and oversee all compliance and HR-related activities.
• Analyze complex compliance situations, identify regulatory gaps, and forecast potential risk exposure.
• Evaluate realistic options to recommend and implement risk-mitigated courses of action.
• Prepare compliant employee separation notices, severance agreements, and related documentation, and conduct thorough exit interviews.
• Support performance management processes—including goal setting, performance reviews, and progressive discipline—to ensure objective, non-discriminatory execution.
• Provide clear guidance to managers on performance management and legal risks associated with workplace actions.
• Identify compliance training needs (e.g., anti-harassment, safety, wage & hour) and collaborate with stakeholders to design and deliver required training programs.
• Facilitate workshops and compliance training sessions across all levels of the organization.
• Maintain complete, accurate, confidential, and up-to-date employee records in accordance with record retention schedules.
• Generate compliance reports and analyze HR metrics to inform executive decision-making and continuous process improvement.
• Monitor pending and enacted changes in labor legislation and proactively adapt organizational policies to maintain compliance.
• Serve as the main liaison to outside legal counsel and regulatory agencies (e.g., EEOC, DOL, OSHA) for HR-related legal and regulatory matters.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Minimum of 5 years of progressive HR experience, with a heavy emphasis on HR compliance, labor law, and risk management.
• Advanced knowledge of federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations (FMLA, ADA, FLSA, Title VII, Workers' Comp, EEOC).
• Dependable, proactive, detail-oriented, and comfortable managing risk in a high-volume, fast-paced environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with strong dispute resolution abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to handle highly confidential information and complex legal issues with discretion.
• Proficient in HRIS platforms and the Microsoft Office Suite.

Preferred Qualifications

• 5+ years of HR Generalist/Compliance experience within Manufacturing or Industrial environments.
• Active HR compliance or professional certification: PHR/SPHR or SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP (SHRM-CP/SCP preferred).
• Deep technical expertise in benefit plan regulations, statutory filings, and compliance requirements (including ERISA, COBRA, ACA, FMLA, ADA, Workers' Compensation, and DOL audits).
• Strong analytical skills with experience conducting comprehensive wage-and-hour audits and job description evaluations for FLSA exempt/non-exempt classifications.
• Ability to understand, evaluate, and synthesize complex legal guidance and proposals into practical business solutions.