How To Become A Labour Relations Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a labour relations manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

As a labor relations manager, you will serve as the management's representative in all matters of employer-employee relations. You are employed to negotiate agreements between individual employees or labor organizations and a company. You'll be tasked with studying wage data and researching labor laws. You'll handle employee grievances, disputes, complaints, and strikes. Additionally, you'll help your employer hire the best workers for a job and negotiate salary and other benefits. Also, you may have to work with mediators and arbitrators to determine the conditions of new labor agreements.

For an entry-level in this role, you need at least a bachelor's degree in business administration, human resources management, or a related discipline. Upon employment, you'll be earning about $107,359 per year. Your salary will vary from $66,000 to $174,000. Additionally, you need communication, negotiation, presentation, and interpersonal skills to succeed in this role. Applicants must have at least five years of related experience.

ScoreLabour Relations ManagerUS Average

Salary

6.7

Avg. Salary $86,150

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.6

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.74%

Asian 7.27%

Black or African American 10.36%

Hispanic or Latino 17.78%

Unknown 5.33%

White 58.51%

Gender

female 44.82%

male 55.18%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

8.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a labour relations manager

Explore labour relations manager education requirements

Most common labour relations manager degrees

Bachelor's

67.9 %

Master's

15.1 %

Associate

6.8 %

Start to develop specific labour relations manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Human Resources	11.84%
Collective Bargaining Agreements	6.71%
Arbitration	5.27%
CRM	4.64%
Collective Bargaining	4.56%

Complete relevant labour relations manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New labour relations managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a labour relations manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real labour relations manager resumes.

Research labour relations manager duties and responsibilities

Reduce absenteeism by managing an aggressive absence control program for FMLA usage.
Lead the development and implementation of an improve full administrative process, absence controls, and tracking log for FMLA.
Manage all unemployment claims and appeals resulting in a reduction of the maximum experience rate to the minimum contribution rate.
Manage all aspects of employee relations including mediation and investigations as required.

Prepare your labour relations manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your labour relations manager resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a labour relations manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable labour relations manager resume templates

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