Employee & Labor Relations Analyst

Primary Role

To optimize business performance by focusing on employee and labor relations strategies, ensuring compliance to State and Federal laws, regulatory agencies, company policies, and collective bargaining agreements. Acts as the employee and labor relations digital librarian and researcher, performing data input, analysis, and visualization. Working with more experienced employee and labor relations staff, builds competency as an employee and labor relations professional in both the labor relations and investigations Centers of Expertise (COE) to achieve experience necessary to support a variety of services within those COEs and building competencies for future advancement to ELRBP roles. Performs related duties as required.

Key Accountabilities

• Serves as Coordinator and Digital Librarian of all Employee and Labor Relations functions including scheduling of meetings and other logistics, organizing, digital filing, and digital archiving of records for user-friendly retrieval and analysis.
• Assists the Director of Employee and Labor Relations with research and analysis of issues and past history and trends related to grievances, discipline, negotiation outcomes, investigations, and discipline. Conducts research and provides analysis of employee and labor relations trends and in support of contract interpretation and administration.
• Utilizing electronic systems such as Sharepoint, Teams, and Ethics Point, enters data for tracking and reporting to corporate and state leaders.
• Gathers, prepares and analyzes technical and statistical data for use in negotiations, grievance processing, mediation, arbitration, fact-finding, and other labor relations activities.
• Researches, gathers and compiles data and information needed for negotiations, investigations, disciplines, grievances, information requests, unfair labor practices, lawsuits, issue position development, and discipline cases.
• Using American Water data systems, runs reports such as payroll reports, myEC, or Ethics Point to assist ELR team members as needed.
• Completes wage table tasks in support of the Labor Relations COE
• Assists with the drafting of tentative and or ratified agreements, settlement agreements, grievance responses and formal disciplinary actions to comply with just cause standards and organizational objectives. Implements, or assists in the implementation of negotiated settlement agreements and arbitration awards.
• Prepares, leads and responds to issues for Labor Management meetings, including development, tracking, and analysis of outcome metrics.
• Oversees record management for progressive disciplines and grievances relative to union-represented employees.
• Works collaboratively within a variety of teams to achieve goals that support strategies.
• Supports negotiation and administration of collective bargaining agreements including facilitation of preparation for negotiations, labor-management meetings, and other labor relations activities.
• Works collaboratively within the Employee and Labor Relations team to build competency in collective bargaining negotiation, contract administration support, Investigations, and facilitation of Labor Relations processes.
• Serves as member of the Company's bargaining team, takes and produces bargaining notes, and gains experience in the Labor Relations COE.

Knowledge/Skills

• Demonstrated knowledge and experience with data input, analysis, and visualization.
• Experience or academic knowledge related to employee and labor relations functions such as employee investigations, negotiation and administration of collective bargaining agreements in unionized settings.
• Ability to organize information for user-friendly storage and retrieval by a variety of stakeholders.
• Strong management skills which include planning, organization, team building, strategic focus, influencing, and people development.
• Demonstration of ability to support change programs and partnering with business managers.
• Ability to communicate effectively and with all levels within and outside the organization.
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written), facilitation, and presentation skills.
• Ability to work/collaborate with colleagues/internal clients/manager and maintain constructive working relationships in a fast-paced environment.
• Detail oriented with ability to document findings in clear manner.
• Self-directed and able to successfully manage significant caseload with minimal supervision and sense of urgency.
• Ability to stay objective, professional, and fair when dealing with sensitive and potentially emotionally charged situations.

Scope

• Know, understand and effectively implement the elements of the strategic plan and tie those strategies to the operation, roles and goals of the department.
• Know, understand and effectively implement the elements of negotiations, problem-solving, and interpersonal relationship-building including in the context of a unionized workforce.
• Know, understand, and effectively implement employee and labor relations data strategies utilizing a variety of technology platforms and working in collaboration with HR Operations, Digital HR, Payroll, and Operations.
• Know, understand and effectively implement managerial principles such as collaboration, innovation, strategy, communication, transparency, and predictability.
• Operate within the department work including understanding systems, procedures, processes and how the department fits into the unit, division, and overall business design to which it belongs.
• Know, understand and effectively implement policies, procedures, agreements, payroll, benefits, procurement, initiatives, budget, programs, and the like.
• Interact with staff, colleagues, constituents, collaborators, and stakeholders across the organization.
• Delegate, lead, guide and direct work of teams and individuals to support strategies, initiatives, goals, policies, procedures and emulate them in your daily performance.
• Direct, manage, evaluate, and hold a team of employees accountable to achieve short-and-long-term goals.
• Know, understand and comply with the law, ethics and corporate citizenship behavior regarding employment, benefits, safety, the law and ethics and compliance.
• Drive relationships, build trust, work to support employees, managers, direct reports and department heads to ensure a positive, predictable Employee Experience that emulates the values of the company.
• Involved with recruiting, acclimating, assisting, developing and mentoring other lesser experienced professionals within the department and potentially across functions.

Experience/Education

• Minimum 3 years’ experience in Human Resources or related field or Bachelor’s degree in HR, Employment, or Employee and Labor Relations.
• Experience in union-represented work environment preferred.

Travel Requirements

• 50%

Certifications and Licenses

• Drivers' License
• PHR/SPHR Preferred

Work Environment

• Modern day professional office environment

Competencies