How to hire an employee relations specialist

How to hire an employee relations specialist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step employee relations specialist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an employee relations specialist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new employee relations specialist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an employee relations specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring an employee relations specialist, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   An employee relations specialist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, employee relations specialists from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list presents employee relations specialist salaries for various positions.

   Type of Employee Relations Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Employee Relations Specialist	Labor relations specialists interpret and administer labor contracts regarding issues such as wages and salaries, healthcare, pensions, and union and management practices.	$18-38
   Human Resources Recruiter	A human resources recruiter is responsible for sourcing potential candidates on filling in organizational roles to support business operations and maintain efficiency on project deliverables. Human resources recruiters work closely with every department's head to analyze their qualifications and posting the job requirement on the company's job board and other communication platforms... Show more	$15-32
   Human Resources Analyst	A human resources (HR) analyst is a professional who collaborates with a company's HR staff members to identify and assist in solving HR-related issues. HR analysts must provide advice and support to numerous departments in the organization regarding HR policies and best practices... Show more	$23-46

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Performance Management
   • Excellent Interpersonal
   • Corrective Action
   • Management System
   • Customer Service
   • Conflict Resolution
   • Employment Law
   • Employee Engagement
   • Disciplinary Actions
   • Leave Management
   • Labor Relations
   • Human Resources Policies
   • Payroll
   • Exit Interviews

   Check all skills

   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.

   More employee relations specialist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the employee relations specialist job description is a good way to get more applicants. An employee relations specialist salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for an employee relations specialist in Florida may be lower than in Massachusetts, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level employee relations specialist. Additionally, an employee relations specialist with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average employee relations specialist salary

   $56,574yearly

   $27.20 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level employee relations specialist salary

   $39,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average employee relations specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Massachusetts	$79,665	$38
   2	District of Columbia	$76,301	$37
   3	California	$75,197	$36
   4	Michigan	$74,106	$36
   5	Nevada	$73,093	$35
   6	New Jersey	$69,294	$33
   7	Rhode Island	$65,601	$32
   8	Virginia	$65,014	$31
   9	Oregon	$62,752	$30
   10	Arizona	$62,143	$30
   11	Washington	$61,339	$29
   12	New York	$61,060	$29
   13	Colorado	$60,763	$29
   14	Minnesota	$58,368	$28
   15	Pennsylvania	$57,331	$28
   16	Illinois	$57,286	$28
   17	Utah	$54,179	$26
   18	North Carolina	$50,783	$24
   19	Georgia	$50,307	$24
   20	Missouri	$49,340	$24

   Average employee relations specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Adobe	$108,081	$51.96	3
   2	Asana	$100,667	$48.40	3
   3	Intuitive Surgical	$96,398	$46.35
   4	Bloomberg	$96,117	$46.21
   5	KLA	$95,001	$45.67
   6	Snowflake Computing	$94,754	$45.55
   7	Stripe	$92,626	$44.53
   8	Amazon	$90,045	$43.29	48
   9	ResMed	$88,095	$42.35
   10	Argonne National Laboratory	$84,826	$40.78
   11	Zoox	$84,632	$40.69	1
   12	Activision Blizzard	$80,661	$38.78	1
   13	Huntington National Bank	$80,035	$38.48	18
   14	2k	$79,887	$38.41
   15	Los Alamos National Laboratory	$79,806	$38.37
   16	BNP Paribas	$78,328	$37.66	1
   17	DuPont	$76,036	$36.56
   18	Health First	$75,409	$36.25
   19	Palantir	$75,057	$36.09	1
   20	Neiman Marcus Group	$74,499	$35.82

4. Writing an employee relations specialist job description

   An employee relations specialist job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of an employee relations specialist job description:

   Employee relations specialist job description example

   A World-Changing Company
   
   At Palantir, we're passionate about building software that solves problems. We partner with the most important institutions in the world to transform how they use data and technology. Our software has been used to stop terrorist attacks, discover new medicines, gain an edge in global financial markets, and more. If these types of projects excite you, we'd love for you to join us.
   
   The Role
   
   The Employee Relations Specialist will partner with our Employment Counsel and People Partners to investigate workplace related incidents, in a remote working environment and in our offices, strongly focused on our US locations. As part of the People Team, the Employee Relations Specialist will manage all aspects of US workplace investigations and find solutions consistent with our culture and business values. Though the Employee Relations Specialist will focus on resolving investigations, complaints and disciplinary actions, they will also provide pragmatic HR advice and assist the broader People Team with other employment issues and cross functional efforts, described below.
   Core ResponsibilitiesWork with People Partners, Employment Counsel the International Employee Relations Specialist and business leaders to develop and implement an Employee Relations (ER) strategy and program.Manage all aspects of ER cases, to include: Partnering with People Partners and Employment Counsel on an investigation strategy and risk assessment in partnership with Employment Counsel and People Partners; conducting interviews, preparing reports, and owning investigation outcomes and close out; tracking and preparing status updates and coordinating input from multiple stakeholders; and advising on and overseeing disciplinary and remediation actions.Support complex performance improvement, leave of absence and medical accommodation cases.Develop training and policy content on ER compliance issues and host regular training sessions for employees.Partner with People Partners to develop data-driven solutions that highlight employee relations trends and inform decision-making.Coordinate responses to internal and external audits / projects relating to HR policies and practices.Track and update practices based on employment law developments.
   What We Value4+ years of HR generalist / HRBP role or employment law role, with 2+ years of ER experience in the tech sector and/or with sales organizations is a plus.Strong knowledge of HR processes and US & UK employment laws.Modeling respectful and empathetic behavior in difficult and uncomfortable situations surrounding an investigation. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with ability to deal with sensitive matters and establish cross-functional relationships.Excellent writing, presentation, and training skills. Strong analytical and problem solving ability.Ability to work independently, stay highly organized, and prioritize a number of matters effectively. Strong advocate for fairness, diversity, and inclusion.Ability to travel occasionally.Experience in employment law.
   Palantir is committed to promoting a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion and is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We believe that all Palantirians share the responsibility of upholding our commitment to these values and encourage candidates from a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences to join us in solving the world's hardest problems. Palantir does not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. Palantir is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with physical and mental disabilities. Please see the United States Department of Labor's EEO poster and EEO poster supplement for additional information.
   
   Palantir is committed to making the job application process accessible to everyone. If you are living with a disability (visible or not visible) and need to request a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, please reach out and let us know how we can help.

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5. Post your job

   To find employee relations specialists for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any employee relations specialists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level employee relations specialists with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your employee relations specialist job on Zippia to find and recruit employee relations specialist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with employee relations specialist candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new employee relations specialist

   Once you've found the employee relations specialist candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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