Senior Employee Relations Advisor

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:
 

Grade: Professional 309Pay Range: $82,700.00 - $124,000.00

Job Description

The Senior Employee Relations Advisor is responsible for providing advice and counsel to leaders and employees on a variety of employee relations people practices. They are responsible for conducting investigations and collaborating with multiple stakeholders to establish policies, identify and mitigate HR risks and provide coaching to resolve workplace conflicts. The Senior Employee Relations Advisor provides employee relations (ER) training, influences employee relations decisions balancing business need and risk, and responds to and supports the Office of General Counsel with EEOC and/or DOL claims in collaboration with the legal team.

Essential Functions and 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.

• Leads 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.

• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skill and Abilities:

• Excellent organizational, investigative, and conflict management/resolution skills.

• Strong strategic, organizational, analytical, and decision-making skills.

• Strong leadership skills/acumen.

• Consults effectively and independently with all levels of the organization.

• Works independently.

• Excellent influencing, negotiation, interpersonal, listening, and problem-solving ability.

• Strong oral and written communication skills.

• Ability to comfortably deal with conflicting points of view on a daily basis.

• Ability to maintain and safeguard confidential information.

• Demonstrates integrity and fair mindedness.

• Knowledge of applicable case and employment laws.

• Demonstrated technical skills with HR systems and software.

• Comfortable collecting, analyzing, and reporting on data.

Job 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

Experience in lieu of education

Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements.  Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as 1 year of experience for 1 year of education and is the discretion of the hiring manager. A minimum of a high school diploma/GED is required.

Travel

This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits (typically one to two per year). Additional travel may include conferences, visits to company locations, and other business-related events as needed. Additional travel may be assigned as needed to support business requirements.

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Position & Application Details

Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.

How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It’s not all-inclusive.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at [email protected].

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.