What is the main role of employee relations in the workplace?

Use this Employee Relations Specialist job description to advertise your vacancies and find qualified candidates. Feel free to modify responsibilities and requirements based on your needs.

Employee Relations Specialist responsibilities include:

• Offering counseling services to employees
• Participating in recruitment and dismissal processes
• Performing employee background checks and verifying information

Job brief

We are looking for an Employee Relations Specialist to join our team and help our employees maintain a productive work environment to ensure our organization reaches our goals. 

An Employee Relations Specialist will work with many professionals, such as an HR Officer, to ensure all employees abide by organizational rules and regulations to help create a productive work environment.

While there are a number of careers available to those with human resources experience, you might want to look at some of the functions of an employee relations manager before you apply for positions in this field.

As a branch of HR management, employee relations managers look out for the best interests of employees and assist employers with contract disputes and negotiations.

Related Resource: 20 Companies With the Best Benefits

Consult on New and Existing Policies

The policies that a company has in place determines the way employees can act. Most companies have sexual harassment laws that forbid employees from treating others in a negative way because of gender or sexual orientation. Employee relations managers are the ones responsible for setting new policies and ensuring that all workers follow those policies. In addition to policies relating to sexual harassment, you may create policies and programs regarding drug or alcohol use, the way employees act on social networking sites and how they act around clients.

Create Benefits Packages

Employee relations managers and human resources managers often work together when creating benefits packages. Benefits packages refer to all benefits awarded to employees, including vacation time, sick leave, maternity leave, health insurance and stock incentives. When creating one of these packages, you need to talk with employees about what they want and need, compare prices from different insurers and decide if all employees should receive the same package. Some companies now offer better benefits for employees who were with the company longer and offer fewer benefits to new employees.

Act as a Union Representative

Depending on the industry you work in, you may need to act as a union rep on the job. Unions provide job stability and security to workers who pay annual dues. If a problem arises, a rep from the union will meet with reps from the company to determine what to do next. You may work as a representative for that union or meet with one of those reps on behalf of your employer. The union will want to know that your company followed all the standards it put in place and that workers did not violate any laws.

Negotiate New Contracts

Contract negotiations is another key duty of those working as employee relations managers. Salaried employees sign a contract that outlines all the benefits they will receive and what employers expect them to do on the job. Once that contract expires, you’ll meet with management to find out what that department wants and then meet with the employee to determine what he or she wants. You must then negotiate between the two parties to come up with a new contract that pleases both sides. This may involve adding more paid time off, reducing a benefits package or increasing a worker’s salary.

Comply with All Laws

The Society for Human Resource Management created a template that employee relations managers can follow when creating a resume and applying for a new job. The SHRM includes one duty that those managers perform as complying with all federal, state and local laws pertaining to employment. Those laws include not discriminating against potential applicants on the basis of factors like race or age, ensuing that employers follow all OSHA standards and providing employees with a safe place to discuss problems they experienced on the job.

Employee relations jobs share some similarities with human resource jobs. The main difference is that employee relations specialists focus more on the workers than on the company as a whole. Some of the functions of an employee relations manager include complying with all laws, negotiating contracts, consulting on all new policies and working with the union.

Employee Relations is a division of a company’s Human Resources department that provides direction and oversight for employee related matters like time-off, medical leave, formal and informal employee complaints, investigation of harassment and discrimination claims, termination of employees, and unemployment compensation claims. Employee relations may also coordinate workplace educational opportunities.

What Employee Relations Does

Employee relations are the relationships among a company’s employees and between the employees and the company itself. Every individual has multiple relationships with their colleagues at work – relationships with their peers, managers, and other employees. The relationship with each is good, mediocre, or bad.

The Employee Relations department manages these relationships. Employee Relations manages many responsibilities related to employees including policy development and interpretation, collective bargaining agreement application, public relations, liaison between different employees, managing employee program, and training employees. Some other responsibilities Employee Relations takes on:

• It is the first point of contact for upper and lower level employees with questions or who need assistance regarding workplace conflicts, internal policy interpretations, and general consultations related to work. Employee Relations focuses on customer-service and expanding workplace communication.
• Employee Relations is a neutral department that does not side with certain employees but instead tries to reach solutions that work for all through collaboration.
• The department represents the interests of the company as a whole and makes decisions based on what is right for the entire organization.
• Employee Relations facilitates communications between management and lower level employees concerning workplace decisions, grievances, conflicts, problem resolutions, unions, and issues of collective bargaining.
• The department provides a place for employees to confidentially talk about their questions and concerns without fear of negative consequences. With very few exceptions, like when a danger is posed by the information provided or a law is being broken, conversations with Employee Relations staff are kept confidential.
• Employee Relations manages workplace educational opportunities to help enhance positive workplace interaction among employees, job satisfaction, and employee retention.

Why Employee Relations Are Important

People spend most of their time at work with their co-workers, superiors, and reports. Neither employees nor employers can afford workplace disputes. Disputes add to unhealthy tensions and decrease an employee's productivity. In contrast, employees that have rapport with one another and are comfortable in their working environment tend to work harder for the employer. Employee Relations helps maintain a friendly and productive workforce necessary for business success. It serves as a neutral mediator of disputes.

Further, no individual, no matter how hard working, can do their job without the help of others. A successful business requires employees that are dedicated to their work and not distracted by workplace disputes or other workplace concerns. For these reasons, it is essential that employees share a polite relationship with each other, understand each other’s needs and expectations and work together to accomplish the goals and targets of the organization.

Finally, to reach ideal solutions, the advice and suggestions of all to reach to a solution which would benefit the individual as well as the organization. Employees must be comfortable at work to be willing to share their valuable insights and ideas.

Employee Relations Improves Business Success

Employee Relations helps create and maintain happy, productive employees that get along with one another. It also provides a resource for employees to go to before taking action, like quitting or not putting effort into work, which harms the employer.

To do their best work, employees also need to have someone they can go to for advice about workplace issues especially when they may not be comfortable reporting issues to their manager or discussing them with coworkers. The Employee Relations department provides employees with this support.

Supporting Employee Relations

All employees, not just the Employee Relations department play a role in helping prevent and resolve workplace disputes. Team leaders and managers should discourage conflicts on their teams and encourage healthy, productive relationships among team members. Lower level employees should enter discussions with a positive frame of mind, open to compromise. They should also avoid approaching co-workers as competitors or enemies. All employees should be encouraged to avoid making conflict with others at work over minor unimportant issues. They should also be reminded that personal issues should remain outside of the workplace.

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