Director, and Labor Relations

Overview

Join a strong community where all we do is care for the children and families we serve every day, as well as for our dedicated team members. Our people are our best asset. We listen and we know what you're looking for:

• You want benefits. We support you with a minimum 50% childcare discount, immediate access to benefits, innovative health programs, 401(k) company match, and much more.
• You want balance. We offer flexible schedules that work for you, no nights or weekends, the ability to bring your children to work with you, and paid time off.
• You want opportunity. We invest in your future with ongoing training, tuition reimbursement, credential assistance, and our unique Master Teacher Program.
• You want recognition. We provide a positive, fun workplace where employees are appreciated.

The Director, Employee and Labor Relations will be responsible for the development and implementation of employment practices and strategy to ensure a positive, thriving and interest-free work environment across the Learning Care brands. This leadership role will be a key partner to the field HR, corporate office, legal, experience, and risk management teams across our 1,100+ locations, supporting over 25,000 leaders and employees.

This role is pivotal in shaping both immediate and long-term initiatives to enhance our employee and leader experience while mitigating company risk through data-rich insights that can inform policy, employee-facing processes and tools, as well as leader-delivered performance feedback. The leader will act as a trusted internal consultant, championing solutions for our internal HR and business teams to roll out new initiatives that deliver people-forward solutions to grow our business.

Employee Relations Leadership

• Build and enhance our employee relations center of excellence with best-in-class service level expectations through effective people, process, and tools.
• Serve as the primary strategic advisor on complex employee relations matters, including performance management, investigations, misconduct, discrimination/harassment allegations, and ADA/LOA issues.
• Develop, implement, and continuously improve ER policies, processes, and guidelines that ensure consistency across all Learning Care locations.
• Lead high-risk or sensitive investigations; advise HRBPs, case specialists and field leaders on best practices.

Labor Relations Strategy & Administration

• Proactively build a labor relations strategy allowing the organization to be ready and nimble to execute if needed
• Partner with counsel and training teams to build training, positive employee culture practices and leadership education to stay ahead of industry trends and emerging technologies to continuously enhance labor and people strategies and practices.

Compliance & Risk Management

• Ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local employment laws (e.g., FLSA, FMLA, ADA, EEO, NLRA, OSHA, state wage & hour rules).
• Shape our policies, employee handbook, and employee-facing processes by analyzing employee cases, labor trends, talent metrics and labor heat-maps and leveraging industry best practices.
• Partner closely with Legal on litigation, agency charges (EEOC, DOL, NLRB), and company responses.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead and develop a high-performing Employee Relations team through coaching, mentorship, and strategic guidance.
• Build strong relationships with field leaders, HR partners, centers of excellence, internal and outside counsel, risk management, compliance teams, and corporate partners.
• Champion organizational change initiatives, with particular focus on the employee experience and current engagement gaps based on case trends, ensuring alignment with enterprise objectives with employee readiness.
• Create and deliver training programs for managers related to ER/LR, policy interpretation, and legal compliance.

Job Qualifications

• Knowledge
  • Bachelor’s degree in business, human resources, marketing, or related field
  • Master’s in talent-related or business area (Preferred)
  • Certification or degree in labor relations management (Preferred)
  • Deep knowledge of U.S. employment law and labor relations.
• Experience
  • 10+ years of…