Employee Relations Specialist

Job description

Job Posting Title: Employee Relations Specialist ---- Hiring Department: Office of Human Resources ---- Position Open To: All Applicants ---- Weekly Scheduled Hours: 40 ---- FLSA Status: To Be Determined at Offer ---- Earliest Start Date: Ongoing ---- Position Duration: Expected to Continue ---- Location: AUSTIN, TX ---- Job Details: General Notes The University's Office of Human Resources serves as a strategic campus partner by providing solutions that attract, engage, develop, and retain employees. This position provides human resource consultation to HR professionals, managers, and employees within the Colleges, Schools, and Units (CSUs) of UT Austin. Must be eligible to work in the United States on a full-time basis for any employer without sponsorship. Purpose Provide employee relations support to multiple administrative and operational units, manage corrective action processes, and support compliance with university policies and workplace practices. Responsibilities Serve as the primary point of contact for employees, managers, and leaders seeking guidance on workplace concerns, policy interpretation, attendance issues, conduct concerns, and departmental procedures. Analyze facts, assess risk, and recommend appropriate next steps consistent with university policies and established employee relations practices. Conduct investigations related to employee conduct, performance management, interpersonal conflicts, and HR policy compliance, including conducting interviews, evidence gathering, documentation review, and reporting of findings. Escalate complex or high-risk matters to senior HR staff as appropriate. Manage the end-to-end corrective action process, including writing, reviewing, and editing corrective action documentation to ensure accuracy, consistency, and alignment with university policies and established documentation standards. Partner with managers to develop clear, factual, and well-supported documentation, provide coaching on documentation expectations, and ensure consistency across employee groups. Coordinate the review and approval process with HR and key stakeholders, track progress through completion, and ensure timely delivery and communication of corrective actions to employees. Coordinate with campus partners including ADA, Legal Affairs, and offices within central Human Resources to ensure concerns are routed appropriately and handled in compliance with university policies and procedures. Deliver employee relations training on workplace expectations, respectful workplace practices, corrective action processes, and related topics. Assist with development of training materials, communications, and employee feedback initiatives. Serve as final approver of recruitment and compensation actions in Workday, ensuring adherence to best practices . Manage dual state employment, unemployment claims, and other audit reporting for assigned units. Special Projects and Other Duties Required Qualifications Bachelor's Degree in Human Resources or related field and two years of experience in employee relations. Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing. Ability to manage multiple priorities and support a portfolio of clients in a fast-paced environment. Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to influence and build effective working relationships with various stakeholders. Demonstrated discretion and ability to handle sensitive and confidential information. Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate. Preferred Qualifications Experience using Workday. Fluent in Spanish and able to translate between Spanish and English to provide support to a Spanish-speaking employee population. Experience in a higher education, public sector, or similarly complex organizational environment. Salary Range $60,000+ depending on qualifications Working Conditions Work-life balance within a typical 40-hour work week Work performed in the Austin, TX office location three days per week, with an option to work remotely two days per week from an approved location. May change due to business need. Work around standard office conditions. Repetitive use of keyboard at workstation. Required Materials Resume/CV 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor Letter of interest Important for applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers: You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications. Any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section; you will be able to multi-select additional files. Before submitting your online job application, ensure that ALL Required Materials have been uploaded. Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes. Important for Current university employees and contingent workers: As a current university employee or contingent worker, you MUST apply within Workday by searching for Find UT Jobs. If you are a current University employee, log-in to Workday, navigate to your Worker Profile, click the Career link in the left hand navigation menu and then update the sections in your Professional Profile before you apply. This information will be pulled in to your application. The application is one page and you will be prompted to upload your resume. In addition, you must respond to the application questions presented to upload any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) that were noted above. ---- Employment Eligibility: Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers. Staff who are promotion/transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval. ---- Retirement Plan Eligibility: The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length. ---- Background Checks: A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position. ---- Equal Opportunity Employer: The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer , complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. ---- Pay Transparency: The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. ---- Employment Eligibility Verification: If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form. You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States. Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment. Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university. ---- E-Verify: The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015. The university’s company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197. For more information about E-Verify, please see the following: E-Verify Poster (English and Spanish) [PDF] Right to Work Poster (English) [PDF] Right to Work Poster (Spanish) [PDF] ---- Compliance: Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031 . The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.