Human Resources Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Position Summary 

The Human Resources Manager is responsible for the day-to-day leadership and administration of the firm's human resources function, with particular responsibility for California employment compliance, employee relations, performance management, benefits administration, recruiting, payroll coordination, and HR operations. 

This position serves as a trusted resource to firm leadership, attorneys, managers, and professional staff and is responsible for translating employment requirements and firm policies into practical, consistent HR practices. 

The ideal candidate is a hands-on HR professional with substantial California employment experience who is comfortable operating independently in a professional-services environment. This individual must be able to identify compliance risks, establish appropriate processes and documentation, coach managers, handle sensitive employee matters, and ensure that HR practices are consistently followed throughout the firm. 

 

Key Responsibilities 

California Employment Compliance 

• Maintain working knowledge of applicable federal, California, and City of Los Angeles employment requirements. 
• Monitor changes in employment laws and regulations and recommend necessary changes to policies and practices. 
• Maintain and periodically review the employee handbook, HR policies, required notices, and employment documentation. 
• Review employee classifications, including exempt/nonexempt and employee/independent contractor classifications. 
• Oversee compliance related to wage-and-hour practices, paid sick leave, vacation/PTO, required leaves, accommodations, final pay, expense reimbursement, and recordkeeping. 
• Coordinate with outside employment counsel when specialized legal advice is required. 
• Maintain required HR, payroll, personnel, training, and compliance records. 

 

Employee Relations 

• Serve as the primary HR resource for employees, attorneys, managers, and firm leadership. 
• Receive and respond appropriately to employee complaints and workplace concerns. 
• Conduct or coordinate workplace investigations. 
• Counsel managers regarding performance, attendance, conduct, disciplinary actions, and terminations. 
• Identify potential discrimination, harassment, retaliation, accommodation, leave, or other employment-law issues and escalate appropriately. 
• Maintain confidentiality and appropriate documentation regarding sensitive employee matters. 

 

Performance Management 

• Administer the firm's performance-management process for attorneys and professional staff. 
• Establish annual review schedules and ensure reviews are completed consistently and on time. 
• Assist managers in establishing meaningful performance expectations and providing effective feedback. 
• Maintain appropriate documentation of performance concerns, coaching, disciplinary actions, and performance improvement plans. 
• Help leadership develop consistent approaches to promotions, compensation adjustments, and employee development. 

 

Recruiting and Onboarding 

• Manage or coordinate recruiting for attorneys and professional staff. 
• Maintain compliant job descriptions and job postings, including applicable California pay-transparency requirements. 
• Coordinate candidate screening, interviews, offers, background checks, and pre-employment processes. 
• Maintain consistent hiring documentation and selection practices. 
• Manage onboarding and ensure completion of required employment documentation, policies, acknowledgments, and training. 
• Coordinate employee orientation and integration into the firm. 

 

Compensation and Payroll Administration 

• Partner with leadership to maintain appropriate compensation structures and salary ranges. 
• Support periodic compensation and pay-equity reviews. 
• Coordinate employee changes with payroll and review payroll-related HR information for accuracy. 
• Administer compensation changes, bonuses, promotions, and other personnel actions. 
• Ensure appropriate documentation and approvals exist for compensation decisions. 
• Coordinate final-pay requirements associated with employee departures. 

 

Benefits and Leave Administration 

• Administer or oversee employee benefit programs and vendor relationships. 
• Coordinate employee enrollments, eligibility changes, and terminations with benefit providers. 
• Manage applicable federal and California leave programs. 
• Administer reasonable-accommodation and interactive-process matters. 
• Maintain appropriate separation of confidential medical information from general personnel records. 
• Coordinate workers' compensation matters and return-to-work processes. 

 

Training and Workplace Compliance 

• Coordinate required California harassment-prevention training and maintain training records. 
• Coordinate required workplace-violence prevention training and related compliance activities. 
• Educate supervisors and firm leadership regarding their responsibilities as people managers. 
• Develop manager guidance and training regarding performance management, documentation, employee relations, accommodations, leaves, and appropriate workplace conduct. 

 

HR Operations and Systems 

• Maintain accurate employee records within the firm's HRIS and other HR systems. 
• Establish consistent HR workflows, forms, checklists, and approval processes. 
• Maintain personnel files and appropriate document-retention practices. 
• Develop and track key HR metrics, including headcount, turnover, recruiting, compensation, leave, training, and performance-review completion. 
• Identify opportunities to streamline and automate HR processes while maintaining appropriate controls. 

 

Offboarding 

• Coordinate voluntary and involuntary employee separations. 
• Ensure final pay, accrued vacation, benefits, required notices, and other separation obligations are addressed. 
• Coordinate with IT and firm leadership regarding access, equipment, confidential information, and client-related materials. 
• Conduct exit interviews when appropriate and identify meaningful turnover trends. 

 

Required Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree. SHRM certification preferred. Focus in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Management, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience. 
• Approximately 7+ years of progressive human resources experience, including meaningful responsibility for employee relations and HR compliance. 
• At least 3 years of direct experience administering HR practices for a California workforce. 
• Demonstrated knowledge of California wage-and-hour, leave, accommodation, anti-discrimination, harassment-prevention, hiring, termination, and employment-record requirements. 
• Experience independently handling sensitive employee-relations matters. 
• Experience working directly with senior leadership and advising managers. 
• Strong written documentation, investigation, communication, and organizational skills. 
• Ability to exercise sound judgment and maintain confidentiality. 
• Experience with HRIS, payroll, benefits, and applicant-tracking systems. 

 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience within a law firm, accounting firm, consulting firm, or other professional-services environment. 
• Experience supporting attorneys or other highly compensated professional employees. 
• PHRca, SPHR, SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, or comparable HR certification. 
• Experience implementing or improving HR infrastructure in a growing or evolving organization. 
• Experience managing compensation structures and conducting pay-equity reviews. 
• Experience partnering with California employment counsel. 

 

Critical Competencies 

• Strong working knowledge of California employment practices. 
• Excellent judgment. 
• High degree of discretion and confidentiality. 
• Confidence interacting with attorneys and senior executives. 
• Ability to have difficult conversations professionally. 
• Strong documentation habits. 
• Ability to distinguish routine HR matters from issues requiring employment counsel. 
• Practical problem-solving rather than purely administrative HR experience. 
• Ability to establish processes and hold managers accountable for following them. 
• High attention to detail. 
• Ability to operate independently without requiring extensive day-to-day supervision. 

 

Success Measures 

• Completion of an HR compliance and personnel-record review. 
• Implementation of consistent HR policies and operating procedures. 
• Accurate employee classification and personnel documentation. 
• Timely completion of required training. 
• Consistent annual performance-review process. 
• Formalized onboarding and offboarding processes. 
• Reliable administration of leaves and accommodations. 
• Improved manager documentation and accountability. 
• Accurate HRIS and employee records. 
• Establishment of recurring HR compliance reviews. 
• Effective escalation of material employment risks to firm leadership and outside counsel. 

\nCompany Description

West Los Angeles-based firm that has been negotiating and trying cases to jury verdict on behalf of plaintiffs for over three decades. The focus is on personal injury, employment law, product liability, class actions and other consumer-oriented matters.

Company Description

West Los Angeles-based firm that has been negotiating and trying cases to jury verdict on behalf of plaintiffs for over three decades. The focus is on personal injury, employment law, product liability, class actions and other consumer-oriented matters.