Workforce Relations Specialist or Workforce Relations Sr. Specialist
Job in
Houghton, Houghton County, Michigan, 49931, USA
Listing for:
Michigan Technological University
Full Time
position
Listed on 2026-02-02
Job specializations:
-
HR/Recruitment
Talent Manager, Employee Relations
Salary/Wage Range or Industry Benchmark: 80000 - 100000 USD Yearly
USD
80000.00
100000.00
YEAR
Job Description & How to Apply Below
Location: HoughtonOverview
Ensured Consideration Date: February 11, 2026
Michigan Technological University is an R1 technological research university founded in 1885 in Houghton. Our rural campus is situated near Lake Superior in Michigan's scenic Upper Peninsula and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries. The university offers more than 185 undergraduate and graduate degree programs with research in defense, health, energy, automotive, environment, and aerospace.
The area’s waters, forests, and snowfall support year-round recreation. The university is an integral part of the region, with a friendly and welcoming community that takes pride in being a true college town. We value our size, climate, sense of adventure, and originality.
Summary
The Workforce Relations Specialist is responsible for mitigating risk for the institution and creating capacity and competency for managers and supervisors in counseling and guiding them through complex employee issues; balancing the need to mitigate risk with positively impacting the employee experience in addressing employee concerns and reaching fair and equitable solutions. Primary responsibilities include investigations, corrective action, coaching and counseling with managers and supervisors, policy and contract interpretation.
This position serves on the leadership team within the Human Resources Department.
Responsibilities and Essential Duties
Service as the primary point of contact for employee relations matters across the institution.Provide efficient, consistent and prompt consultative services, thereby creating capacity for managers and supervisors.Provide consultative, advising, and coaching services in areas including conflict resolution, performance issues, and disciplinary actions.Mediate workplace disputes effectively.Provide effective advising services to managers during performance improvement plans.Assist managers with preparing for difficult conversations with employees to aid in effective concern resolution.Advise managers on handling difficult performance issues, disciplinary actions, and Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs).Serve as a Labor Designee for bargaining units, including contract liaison activities, hosting labor/management meetings, serving as the employer representative in labor negotiations, and drafting/publishing contracts.Respond to grievances and written complaints; assist General Counsel with legal matters as they relate to Human Resources.Provide leadership in investigations into misconduct or policy violations.Develop, interpret and enforce institutional policy and collective bargaining agreements in a fair and equitable manner.Partner with HR colleagues and other stakeholders in areas of FMLA and ADA and other leaves of absence.Provide education to managers and employees on policies, rights and best practices, through individual conversations or group trainings.Manage unemployment claims and respond/represent as needed.Develop tools and templates for managers to utilize.Partner with the Chief Human Resources Officer on complex or sensitive cases.Perform appropriate referrals to university or community resources.Provide varying levels of final outcome letter development support—from drafting, reviewing drafts written by others, or issuing and delivering final outcomes.Track case details to identify and address trends through reporting, training opportunities, or policy needs.Use strong written communication skills to prepare documentation with discoverability in mind.Commit to learning about continuous improvement strategies and applying them to daily work; engage in university and departmental continuous improvement initiatives.Apply safety-related knowledge, skills, and practices to everyday work.Required Education, Certifications, Licensures
Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Labor Relations or related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience from which comparable knowledge and abilities can be acquired.
Required Experience
Experience or education/training in one or more of the functional areas of responsibility.
Desirable
Education and/or…
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