Employee relations specialist vs union representative

The differences between employee relations specialists and union representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an employee relations specialist and a union representative. Additionally, an employee relations specialist has an average salary of $56,574, which is higher than the $55,811 average annual salary of a union representative.

The top three skills for an employee relations specialist include performance management, excellent interpersonal and corrective action. The most important skills for a union representative are arbitration, collective bargaining agreements, and contract negotiations.

Employee relations specialist vs union representative overview

	Employee Relations Specialist	Union Representative
Yearly salary	$56,574	$55,811
Hourly rate	$27.20	$26.83
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	30,109	674
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	4

Employee relations specialist vs union representative salary

Employee relations specialists and union representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Employee Relations Specialist	Union Representative
Average salary	$56,574	$55,811
Salary range	Between $39,000 And $81,000	Between $37,000 And $82,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	-
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	-
Best paying company	Adobe	-
Best paying industry	Finance	-

Differences between employee relations specialist and union representative education

There are a few differences between an employee relations specialist and a union representative in terms of educational background:

	Employee Relations Specialist	Union Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Southern California

Employee relations specialist vs union representative demographics

Here are the differences between employee relations specialists' and union representatives' demographics:

	Employee Relations Specialist	Union Representative
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 30.6% Female, 69.4%	Male, 51.9% Female, 48.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 7.6% White, 58.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 20.0% Asian, 7.8% White, 57.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between employee relations specialist and union representative duties and responsibilities

Employee relations specialist example responsibilities.

Manage and implement improvements to UK recruitment and inductions/orientation.
Gather and document information to achieve litigation free outcomes or successfully defend company.
Manage departmental restructuring & redundancy program for engineering operations across two UK locations.
Generate HRIS reports and manage personnel files, management information, and candidate data utilizing standardize reporting systems.
Advise on legal compliance (e.g., ADA, FMLA, harassment) and contract and policy interpretation.
Administer to ADA, FLSA, FMLA/ PDL/ CFRA, and retirement.

Union representative example responsibilities.

Manage extensive grievance and arbitration procedures.
Process these transactions through the computerized system - PeopleSoft.
Serve as an ERT team-member and certify in DI water.
Perform regenerations on DI systems and perform operations on 1200 ton chillers.
Configure and administer NFS, NIS+, NIS, DNS and automounter.
Counsele and train all specialists in strict adherence to all EEO laws, rules and regulations.

Employee relations specialist vs union representative skills

Common employee relations specialist skills

Performance Management, 6%
Excellent Interpersonal, 5%
Corrective Action, 5%
Management System, 5%
Customer Service, 5%
Conflict Resolution, 5%

Common union representative skills

Arbitration, 18%
Collective Bargaining Agreements, 16%
Contract Negotiations, 15%
Labor Relations, 11%
Contract Language, 10%
Collective Bargaining, 7%

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Employee Relations Specialist
Employee Relations Specialist vs Union Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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