Senior Employee and Labor Relations Consultant - Human Resources

HealthPartners is currently hiring a Senior Employee and Labor Relations Consultant - Human Resources. The Senior Consultant is a seniorlevel expert who serves as a strategic advisor and trusted partner to leaders across the organization. This role plays a critical part in shaping and executing employee and labor relations strategies that align with organizational goals, support a positive and inclusive workplace culture, and ensure compliance with all applicable employment and labor laws.

The Senior Consultant provides labor relations support, including collective bargaining, contract interpretation, and grievance resolution, while ensuring consistent application of HR policies and collective bargaining agreements in compliance with employment and labor laws. As a subject matter expert, the role advises leaders on complex employee relations matters, leads highrisk and highimpact case resolution in partnership with legal, compliance, and other stakeholders, and helps mitigate organizational risk. The Senior Consultant also provides thought leadership by developing and implementing employee and labor relations frameworks, policies, and training, and by coaching leaders and colleagues on best practices, policy interpretation, and legal considerations.

This role also oversees responses to external legal and regulatory inquiries, including EEOC charges, employment litigation, governmental investigations, regulatory surveys, and compliance audits.

The Employee and Labor Relations Consultant is part of a team of five consultants and reports to the Senior Director of Employee and Labor Relations. The role partners with business and clinical leaders across HealthPartners' medical group, health plan, corporate shared services, and institute, supporting an organization of approximately 7,630 employees.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources or a related field or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience
• Five years of progressively responsible experience in labor and/or employee relations, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience managing moderately complex to complex investigations and advising senior leaders.
• Experience responding to regulatory agencies (e.g., EEOC, MDHR, WDWD).
• Expert-level knowledge of employment and labor law and HR best practices (e.g., FMLA, ADA, Title VII, FLSA).
• Experience working in union and non-union environments.
• Strong investigation, problem solving, conflict resolution, coaching and negotiation skills are all critical to this role.
• Ability to influence and coach leaders at all levels.
• Ability to manage multiple cases with high complexity.
• Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and mentor other ER professionals.
• Strategic thinker with strong business acumen.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, and influencing skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Previous experience in labor relations is strongly preferred.
• Master's degree in Human Resources, or related field.
• PHR/SPHR certification.

Hours/Location:

• M-F; core business hours.
• This is a hybrid position with an expectation of being onsite three days a week. Occasional travel to other HealthPartners' locations may be required for meetings or workgroup sessions.

Responsibilities:

• Employee and Labor Relations Consultation
  • Provide expert guidance and policy interpretation to leaders, colleagues, and HR partners on employee and labor relations matters, including policies, union collective bargaining agreements, and employment laws. Ensure consistent application of policies and compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Acts as a mediator between disagreeing parties to bring fair resolution to situations involving conflict. Acts as a mediator between disagreeing parties to bring fair resolution to situations. Conduct and manage complex investigations into policy violations or legal concerns (e.g., harassment, discrimination, workplace violence, confidentiality breaches). Document findings and recommend appropriate resolutions, including corrective action. Advise leaders and HR partners on performance management, including coaching, corrective action, and terminations. Assess risk, recommend appropriate actions, and review/approve corrective actions and terminations to ensure fairness and legal compliance. Creates and conducts on-going training of leaders regarding employment/labor law, policies and the performance management process including curriculum development and delivery.
• Labor Relations and Union Engagement
  • Provide labor relations support as needed based on assigned areas. Investigate and respond to grievances in accordance with collective bargaining agreements and organizational policy. May lead special negotiations, negotiate Letters of Understanding, participate in preparation for main negotiations, and/or participate in such negotiations, union awareness planning, and participate in strike planning. Represent the organization in labor - management committees, arbitrations, and grievances. Foster collaborative relationships with union leadership to support organizational goals.
• Accommodations
  • Partners with leaders, HR partners and Employee Health on leave administration, ADA accommodations, and return-to-work programs, providing guidance to ensure consistent, compliant, and supportive employee experience
• Legal and Regulatory Response
  • Lead or support responses to employment-related legal matters, including EEOC/MDHR/WDWD charges, DOL complaints, lawsuits, and attorney demand letters. Prepares requests and represents the organization in regulatory compliance surveys. Represent the organization in mediation, settlement discussions, and employment-related proceedings. Responds to Unemployment Compensation claims and represents organization at unemployment hearings.
• Data Analysis, Reporting, and Continuous Improvement
  • Reviews analysis of ER/LR data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for proactive intervention. Review local seniority reports. Develop reports for their leader and senior leadership with actionable insights. Drive continuous improvement by evaluating the effectiveness of ER/LR programs and recommending enhancements.