Employee Relations Specialist

When they start work, employees are told they cannot smoke, drink alcohol, sleep, or otherwise behave badly on the job. In return, the employer promises to provide a safe work environment, free of hazards and discrimination. It may sound simple enough, but workers and employers may bend the rules just a bit and offend one another. An Employee Relations Specialist helps keep the peace by making sure both workers and employers are staying true to their promises.

When you’re an Employee Relations Specialist, employees with specific concerns about the company come to you for advice. In these meetings, you ask them to describe their complaints in detail, and you research your company’s policies to determine if a violation is taking place. If you do spot a violation, you report it to the Human Resources Director, and you provide a list of suggestions to prevent the problem from occurring again.

Some complaints verge on the silly. Employees who complain about the color of their cubicle walls, for example, may not have a valid concern. Instead, they may need anger management help or depression counseling. As an Employee Relations Specialist, you tactfully suggest your company’s mental health services to these workers, and you carefully document your conversations.

Employers may have their own concerns about workers, too. If a worker sings arias from Tosca during meetings, for example, the Supervisor may ask the Employee Relations Specialist for permission to terminate the employee.

Before you give permission, you look closely at your company’s practices and consult your company’s Lawyer. You may talk to the employee and provide concrete steps that they must take to keep the job. Singing cessation advice would be welcome here.