Employee Relations Partner

Employee Relations Partner

The Employee Relations Partner serves as the primary point of contact for employee relations, policy application, and people management support within assigned service areas. Operating within a centralized HR intake and escalation model, the Employee Relations Partner ensures consistent, timely, and compliant resolution of employee issues, while partnering with HR Business Partners, Labor Relations, and HR Centers of Excellence as appropriate. This role is critical to maintain operational stability, legal compliance, and leader confidence in a complex, highly regulated healthcare environment.

Essential Duties

• Own and manage employee relations cases from intake through resolution, including performance management, attendance issues, interpersonal conflicts, and policy violations.
• Conduct workplace investigations (low to mid complexity), including interviews, documentation review, findings summaries, and recommendations in alignment with policy and legal standards.
• Serve as the subject matter expert for HR policy interpretation, ensuring consistent and equitable application across assigned operational areas.
• Draft and review corrective action documentation, performance improvement plans, and disciplinary actions to ensure accuracy, clarity, and compliance.
• Coach leaders and managers on appropriate handling of employee issues, documentation standards, and effective coaching practices.
• Enforce the HR intake and escalation process, ensuring all issues are logged, tracked, and routed appropriately; redirect bypass attempts back through intake.
• Identify potential legal, regulatory, or labor-related risks and escalate to HR Business Partners or Labor HRBPs, based on defined escalation criteria.
• Partner with Labor Relations on union-related matters, including grievance preparation support, fact gathering, and leader guidance.
• Maintain accurate case documentation, meet defined service level expectations, and ensure timely closure of employee relations matters.
• Monitor recurring issues within assigned areas and elevate systemic concerns to HR Business Partners or HR leadership for broader intervention.
• Work closely with HR leadership, HR Business Partners, Labor Relations, Legal, and HR Centers of Excellence to deliver coordinated HR support.
• Ensure adherence to employment laws, regulatory requirements, and internal policies; support audits, reporting, and documentation requests as needed.

Job Requirements

General Requirements: Possesses or obtains Strategic HRBP certification, or similar, preferred.

Work Experience: Minimum of 1 year labor, employee relations or HR Generalist experience. Human resource experience in a unionized organization, preferred. Previous experience in a health care organization, preferred.

Education: Bachelors Degree and a minimum of 1 years of experience OR Associates Degree and a minimum of 3 years experience OR HS Diploma and a minimum of 5 years experience

Specialized Knowledge and Skills: Demonstrated ability to build consultative, collaborative relationships with leaders and co-workers at all levels. Strong communication and organizational skills. Demonstrated change management skills. Proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously. Demonstrated high levels of confidentiality and discretion. Excellent analysis and decision-making skills. Solid knowledge of employment laws and regulations governing HR programs. Ability to analyse and interpret data. Ability to work with flexibility on several tasks simultaneously and to meet various concurrent deadlines. Very strong organizational skills, analytical and problem-solving abilities and attention to detail. Ability to be creative, demonstrate adaptability, demonstrate teamwork, and critical thinking skills. Proficiency in MS Office

University of Michigan Health - Sparrow is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected Veteran status.