Human Resources Manager

About the role Reporting directly to the CEO, the HR Manager owns HR for HAVERHILL: benefits, leave, employee relations, and discipline. The role also owns facilities and business compliance: keeping the building running, and staying ahead of licensing and compliance deadlines. We're about forty‑five people in one building in Warren: two units, roughly 75% manufacturing and 25% admin, marketing, and eCommerce. This is a hands‑on role. You'll run open enrollment in person and spend real time on both sides of the building. Core responsibilities Benefits administration Own benefits administration end-to-end: eligibility, enrollment, qualifying life events, terminations, COBRA, and carrier portals. Educate year-round, not only at enrollment. New hires, qualifying life events and the questions that arrive mid‑year all deserve the same explanation of what the plan covers, what a deduction represents, and how a decision window works, delivered in the employee's own language and in terms that make the choice clear. Partner with Finfance to reconcile carrier invoices against enrollment and payroll deductions each month, and resolve discrepancies with the carrier or broker directly. Own the broker relationship day to day, and lead the annual renewal with real authority to negotiate plan design and cost directly: gathering census data, reviewing plan design and cost against the workforce that actually uses it, and bringing the final recommendation to Finance and the CEO. Run open enrollment as a delivered program, not a distributed packet. In person, shift by shift, in both languages, with time built in for questions. Every eligible employee enrolled or formally waived, on record, before the deadline. Leave, accommodation and time away Administer all leave: we are a registered employer in Rhode Island, Connecticut & New York. Ensure compliance with state paid sick and safe leave programs, RI Temporary Disability Insurance and Temporary Caregiver Insurance, parental leave, personal leave and unpaid leave, from initial request through return to work. Handle accommodation requests, run the interactive process, and ensure thorough documentation. Track headcount against the 50‑employee thresholds and brief leadership before they are crossed, not after. Federal FMLA, the Rhode Island Parental and Family Medical Leave Act and ACA Applicable Large Employer status all activate at that line and each carries its own obligations. Employee relations and progressive discipline Be the first point of contact for employee concerns, complaints, and conflicts, across both the office and the floor. Investigate, document, recommend, and know which matters need outside counsel before the decision rather than after it. Own the progressive discipline process and partner with supervisors early: coach supervisors through it, ensure steps are taken in order, and hold the documentation that makes a separation defensible. Conduct stay and exit conversations and route what they surface to the people who can act on it. Unemployment and claims Own unemployment claims and hearings. Respond within the state deadline with the documentation to support the company's position, and represent HAVERHILL at hearings. Experience rating drives a payroll tax that moves with how well this is handled. Coordinate workers' compensation claims with Finance, who carries the policy: reporting, return‑to‑work planning, and the employee side of the process. Onboarding, offboarding, and the employee record Run onboarding: offer letters, pre‑employment steps including background check processes, I‑9 completion and reverification, first‑day orientation, benefits enrollment, and the paperwork behind all of it. Run offboarding: final pay coordination with Finance, benefits and COBRA notification, systems‑access removal with the owning function head, and equipment return. Coordinate hiring: postings, candidate sourcing & pipelining, applicant tracking system documentation, resume review with handover to hiring managers, reference and background checks, offer letters. Hiring managers own their own searches and selection decisions; this role runs the process around them and keeps it consistent and compliant. Temporary and seasonal staffing Own the temporary staffing agency relationship as the primary point of contact. Seasonal recruitment is not run in‑house. It runs through the agency, and this role is accountable for the agency actually delivering. Provide support to VP of Production to forecast the seasonal staffing requirements: roles, headcount, start dates, shift pattern, and skills. Communicate the plan to the agency with enough lead time for the roles to be filled properly. Hold the agency to delivery: candidates on time, in the numbers agreed, meeting the specification. Track fill rate, time to fill, no‑shows and early attrition, and elevate on the agency's side before a shortfall reaches the floor. Run intake for temporary workers as carefully as for employees: floor orientation, safety briefing, and a clear introduction to the supervisor they report to, delivered in the language they work in. Keep the co‑employment line clear. Temporary workers are the agency's employees. Performance and conduct issues are documented and routed to the agency rather than handled directly, and this role coaches supervisors on where that line sits. Manage the commercial relationship day to day: rates, conversion terms and invoice accuracy against hours actually worked; ensure all changes are communicated to Finance in a timely manner. Performance and skills development Bring structure and regularity to the practices already in place. Production runs on skills matrices; salaried staff have an annual narrative review. This role partners with the VPs and function heads to organize what exists into one predictable cycle: consistent timing, consistent instruments, and documentation good enough to rely on at the next review. The practices belong to the leaders who run them; the calendar, the standards, and the record belong to HR. Raise documentation fidelity on both tracks. Reviews completed and filed, skills certifications recorded and current, and a clear line from what was assessed to what was decided. Support the annual cost‑of‑living process with the data, timing and documentation it needs, and keep the development conversation on a separate cycle from pay communication. Keep the instruments usable by the people who have to use them: translated, short, and workable by a supervisor on the floor. Work to build supervisor capacity and skill set in coaching throughout the process. Morale, engagement and company events Own the morale and engagement program for the whole company: company events, recognition, service and milestone anniversaries, and the calendar behind them. This is real work with real budget, not something done in the margins of the week. Own the peak‑season support program. Peak means long days and heavy overtime across the floor. This role plans, budgets and runs what carries people through it: catered lunches once or twice a week, raffles and drawings, food and cold drinks available through long shifts, and recognition given while the effort is happening rather than after the season ends. Ask the team what they actually want rather than assuming, and adjust year over year. Track what was spent and what it bought. Employment compliance Own employment compliance: the Rhode Island notice at hire, wage and hour practice, pay‑transparency and written pay‑notice requirements, required postings in both languages, OSHA recordkeeping, and I‑9 practice. Remote employer requirements in CT and NY. Maintain relevant employee policies, and work to assemble what exists into a functional handbook and an employment‑compliance calendar. Keep both current as thresholds and law change. Maintain job descriptions and FLSA classifications across the company. HR systems, data and payroll support Serve as the HR administrator of the payroll and HRIS platform: employee records, org data, PTO configuration, document storage and reporting. Support payroll: new hires, changes, deductions, leave codes and terminations entered accurately and on time. Produce the headcount, turnover, absence and benefits‑cost reporting leadership needs, on a set cadence. Facilities management Primary point of contact for the Warren facility. Vendor coordination: HVAC, cleaning, security, repairs, groundskeeping — against a working annual facilities budget. Serve as the primary OSHA program administrator for the facility; partner with the Operations Specialist to ensure training documentation, routine machine audits, and complete related annual submissions. Oversee an abatement process if needed. Walk the facility on a regular cadence to catch maintenance issues before they interrupt production or get reported by an employee first. Business compliance Track licensing, permits, and manufacturing‑specific regulatory deadlines (for example, precious metals disclosure, and environmental and safety compliance) on the compliance calendar, and coordinate with outside counsel or consultants on filings and renewals. This is distinct from employment compliance above: it is the business's regulatory footprint as a manufacturer and a legal entity, not its obligations as an employer. Bring anything with real legal or financial exposure to the CEO early. This role tracks and coordinates the work; it does not make the underlying legal or risk call alone. Legal‑matter coordination — non‑HR Occasional document collection, organization, and deadline tracking for non‑HR legal matters (contracts, IP/trademark, vendor or customer disputes), in support of outside counsel. Explicitly non‑HR. Employment‑related legal matters (claims, workplace investigations) stay entirely inside the Employee Relations process above and are never routed through this duty, to avoid the same person coordinating both sides of a potential employment dispute. This is a lighter, as‑needed part of the role, not a core weekly responsibility. Qualifications Comfortable being the sole HR presence in the building , with real decision authority and no HR team around: knows when to make the call versus bring it to the CEO, and is used to actually making it. Ten or more years of progressive HR generalist or HR management experience, including direct ownership, not just administration, of at least one major program area: benefits, compensation, performance management, or policy. Has personally run open enrollment end to end. Not supported it, owned it. Ask what went wrong the first time and what they changed the second. Has handled employee relations matters through to resolution, including investigations and involuntary separations, and can describe the documentation they produced. Current working knowledge of Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York employment law, including TDI, TCI, and paid sick and safe leave — or a demonstrated track record of getting current fast and staying there. Manufacturing, production or other hourly‑workforce experience strongly preferred. The skills that matter here are delivering HR to people who do not sit at a desk, do not read email during the day and may not use a computer at all. Has managed a staffing or temp agency relationship and held a vendor to a service standard Has planned and run employee events and recognition for an hourly workforce. On‑shift, on a budget, and actually attended. This is a named part of the job here rather than an extra, and it is worth asking about directly. Comfortable owning vendor relationships and regulatory deadlines outside of HR proper: We're a small team, so cross‑functional coordination is a strong preference: some demonstrated experience in facilities coordination, business licensing, light legal‑document coordination. We don't need deep technical expertise in any of these functions, just the organizational skills to support the team's success. Fluent in written and spoken English and Spanish. SHRM‑CP, SHRM‑SC, PHR or SPHR welcome but not required. Demonstrated experience substitutes. Degree welcome but not required. Compensation & Benefits This is a full‑time, salaried, exempt position budgeted at $90,000–$115,000 annually, commensurate with experience. The position also qualifies for an annual performance‑based bonus of up to 15% of base salary. Benefits Full‑time employees, defined as 30 or more hours per week, are eligible for: Medical coverage through UnitedHealthcare, with multiple plan options and preventive care covered at 100% in network Dental coverage through Delta Dental of Rhode Island Vision coverage through VSP 401(k) through Guideline, with employer matching Employer‑paid term life, AD&D, and long‑term disability insurance through Unum A confidential Employee Assistance Program through Unum, covering mental health, financial, and legal support 50% employee discount on HAVERHILL jewelry, with payroll deduction available Optional voluntary coverage through Colonial Life and Pet Discount Plus at group rates Full plan documents and coverage details are available during the interview process. Location & Schedule This is an on‑site role based at HAVERHILL's production facility in Warren, Rhode Island. This is not a remote or hybrid position; the work depends on being present with both the office team and the manufacturing floor. Physical Requirements Regularly moves throughout the office and production floor over the course of the day Sits or stands for extended periods; occasional bending, reaching, and light lifting (up to approximately 25 lbs) for event setup, filing, and supplies Manual dexterity for computer use and paperwork; visual acuity for reviewing records and documents Communicates clearly in person, by phone, and in writing, in both English and Spanish May involve occasional exposure to typical manufacturing‑floor conditions (noise, equipment, materials) Reasonable accommodations are available — see Equal Opportunity below Equal Opportunity A stone returns light because it's cut from many angles, not one. The same is true of a team. HAVERHILL is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, national or ancestral origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. This applies to every employment decision we make, including hiring, compensation, promotion, training, and termination. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application or interview process, contact View email address on click.appcast.io. #J-18808-Ljbffr