Employee & Labor Relations Consultant

Job Description

Join one of the nation’s most comprehensive academic medical centers, UChicago Medicine, as an Employee & Labor Relations Consultant. You will promote strategies that improve job performance and make UChicago Medicine a great place to work and practice medicine. This position will be primarily a work from home opportunity with the requirement to come onsite as needed. You may be based outside of the greater Chicagoland area. 

 

In this role, you will respond to escalated inquiries from executives, managers and employees relating to particular subject matter expertise. We are looking for an individual who will provide superior customer service to all employees by promptly responding to employee inquiries received via a case management tool.

• You will provide training and support to Tier 1 employee service representatives to ensure compliance with established processes and procedures in an effort to improve service delivery
• Identifying and communicating process improvement opportunities for Tier 1 employee service representatives and the HR user community at large are also key components
• You will escalate unresolved matters to appropriate individuals as necessary and interpret standard administrative procedures and practices to resolve complex employee inquiries or issues 

Essential Job Functions

• Employee Relations Counseling: Providing consultation to leaders and employees in the resolution of escalated employee relations issues in accordance with existing HR policies and procedures. Conducting preliminary interviews, documenting findings/recommendations, and advising leaders of dealing with employee performance issues using disciplinary procedures (e.g. verbal, written warnings or termination).       
• Interpretative Guidance on CBAs and HR Policies: In collaboration with the ELR COE, providing interpretative guidance on collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), HR policies and procedures, past practice, employment laws, reductions in force and other regulatory requirements.
• Employee Investigations:   Overseeing investigations in response to employee or management incidents or complaints. Conducting high risk or complex investigations requiring extensive investigation and involving unique circumstances.
• Employee Legal Response Support: Developing position statements, other written responses or documentation to employment related charges or claims. Working with legal counsel to prepare required documentation for negotiating and finalizing settlements. Providing arbitration support, including identifying witnesses, producing required documentation and making preliminary risk assessments and settlement recommendations.
• Employee Appeal Procedure: Serving as Step 3 hearing officer for union grievance process, conducting follow up investigations and drafting Step 3 responses.
• Training: Conducting needs assessment and delivery of training on employee relations issues, including CBAs and related HR policies and procedures.
• Severance/Separation Agreements: Coordinating severance agreement preparation in accordance with severance program and policy, calculating payouts and administering claims.
• Employee Relations Tracking: Capturing, organizing and entering employee relations-related data into tracking systems which may include tracing disciplinary action cases.
• Performing other duties as assigned.

You’ll thrive in this position if you:

• Demonstrate PRIDE Values – you actively demonstrate UCMC values in your work and relationships. You encourage others to model the behaviors and proactively identify gaps.
• Make Thoughtful Decisions – you identify issues, problems and opportunities; proactively recognize the need for improvement. You work with others to develop a sense of common purpose; understand different perspectives on issues; gathers and examines information available. You generate alternatives - Create relevant options, including financial and resource implications, for addressing problems and opportunities. You select appropriate action - Formulate clear decision criteria; evaluates options by considering implications and consequences; chooses an effective option. You commit to implementation and work with a sense of urgency and a bias for action to implement the decision.
• Deliver Results – you identify issues, problems and opportunities; proactively recognize the need for improvement. You work with others to develop a sense of common purpose; understand different perspectives on issues; gathers and examines information available. You generate alternatives - Create relevant options, including financial and resource implications, for addressing problems and opportuniti