What does a labour relations specialist do?
Labour relations specialists are professionals who serve as liaisons between an organization's employees and its executive management team to discuss effective compromises among them. These specialists are required to analyze and draft contract proposals and counterproposals for labor negotiations with employees, management leaders, and other collective bargaining parties. They must resolve conflicts and communications difficulties among employees while handling disciplinary problems and other work-related incidents. Labour relations specialists must also meet with employees and organization representatives to build a positive long-term relationship between the two sides.
Labour relations specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real labour relations specialist resumes:
- Create, manage, and disseminate university communications via alumni relations department website and email system.
- Manage alumni programs and data systems including implementing new data tracking system and creating data privacy policy.
- Handle grievance investigations, contract interpretation, disciplinary matters, and implementation of arbitration awards for consistency company-wide.
- Assist leaders to be compliant with FLSA, ODRISA, etc.
- Post commendations and counseling notices into HRIS (Filenet).
- Investigate and settle grievances, prepare and present appeals to personnel boards.
- Revamp training for labor relations and orient the team on HRIS resources.
- Conduct thorough investigations of grievances, ethics complaints, and managerial inquiries.
- Serve as the backup for the payroll specialist on occasions when she are out.
- Review rules, run several explain plans and recommend changes to several SQL statements.
- Integrate multiple acquisitions and divestitures into existing CRM structure, knowledge base and department processes.
- Ensure compliance with establish procedures by examining payroll records, reports, contracts and other documentation.
- Advise management on grievances and appeals, adverse actions, employee discipline, and relate matters.
- Complete all FMLA and associate leave compliance and serve as the employers representative on all cases.
- Respond to CHRO complaints and participate in the CHRO process including mandatory mediation, fact finding and public hearing.
Labour relations specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 14% of Labour Relations Specialists are proficient in HR, Collective Bargaining Agreements, and Collective Bargaining. They’re also known for soft skills such as Listening skills, Detail oriented, and Writing skills.
We break down the percentage of Labour Relations Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- HR, 14%
Recruited to support a 2300-member workforce by generating strategic proposals based on intensive HR data analysis.
- Collective Bargaining Agreements, 10%
Managed administration of collective bargaining agreements, responded to union requests for information and advised management on contract requirements.
- Collective Bargaining, 7%
Provide cost analysis of proposals and counter-proposals useful to arrive at labor agreements during collective bargaining sessions.
- Arbitration, 6%
Conducted investigations, imposed employee discipline and managed the disciplinary process up through grievance and arbitration.
- EEO, 5%
Administered unemployment compensation and EEO program.
- Industrial Relations, 3%
Returned to school to get a degree in Personnel and Industrial Relations
Most labour relations specialists use their skills in "hr," "collective bargaining agreements," and "collective bargaining" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential labour relations specialist responsibilities here:
Listening skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a labour relations specialist to have is listening skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "listening skills are essential for labor relations specialists." Labour relations specialists often use listening skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "coordinated and presided over meetings relevant to labor management issues communicated and properly notified parties involved with labor relations matters. "
Detail oriented. Many labour relations specialist duties rely on detail oriented. "specialists must be detail oriented when evaluating labor laws and maintaining records of an employee grievance.," so a labour relations specialist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways labour relations specialist responsibilities rely on detail oriented: "represent members at various steps of the grievance process utilizing a results oriented approach. "
Writing skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of labour relations specialists is writing skills. This skill is critical to many everyday labour relations specialist duties, as "all labor relations specialists need strong writing skills to be effective at their job." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "participate in the writing of hr policies pertaining to leave, drug and alcohol, attendance, etc. "
Interpersonal skills. labour relations specialist responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "interpersonal skills are essential for labor relations specialists." This resume example shows what labour relations specialists do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "develop and maintain employee/labor relationships to accomplish goals of the organization and foster positive interpersonal relationships. "
The three companies that hire the most labour relations specialists are:
- Deloitte18 labour relations specialists jobs
- Compass Group USA4 labour relations specialists jobs
- United Natural Foods3 labour relations specialists jobs
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Compare different labour relations specialists
Labour relations specialist vs. Union representative
Employee relations representatives are professionals who are responsible for negotiating the contracts of employees as well as offer overall support to them working for an organization. These representatives must deal with employee complaints in areas such as salary, pensions, and benefits while investigating potential disturbances in their workplace. They must educate their employees about the organization's personnel rules and practices as well as the state labor laws. Employee relations representatives must also keep complete and accurate employee records and provide guidance to limit potential lawsuits.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a labour relations specialist are more likely to require skills like "hr," "industrial relations," "mediation," and "performance management." On the other hand, a job as a union representative requires skills like "loan applications," "health insurance," "human resources," and "mediate." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Union representatives tend to reach similar levels of education than labour relations specialists. In fact, union representatives are 3.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 3.8% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Labour relations specialist vs. Employee relations representative
An Employee Relations Coordinator is responsible for supporting the human resources department operations, acting as a liaison between the senior management and employees. They facilitate the hiring process, coordinating with the hiring managers for their staffing needs and qualification requirements. They reach out to potential candidates, review applications, and schedule assessments and interviews with qualified applicants. An Employee Relations Coordinator must have excellent knowledge of the human resources disciplines to resolve issues immediately and update the employees on all the changes and updates with the company policies.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real labour relations specialist resumes. While labour relations specialist responsibilities can utilize skills like "hr," "collective bargaining agreements," "eeo," and "mediation," employee relations representatives use skills like "excellent time management," "human resources policies," "federal laws," and "eeo-1."
Employee relations representatives earn similar levels of education than labour relations specialists in general. They're 2.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 3.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Labour relations specialist vs. Employee relations coordinator
Specialists are employees who are responsible for specific tasks or activities in the department they are assigned to. The actions or tasks they work on are related to their educational background or work experiences. They are usually highly skilled in specializations related to the work they are assigned to. Specialists are also highly trained on the competencies that are required of their specialty. As such, they are focused on the skills and competencies that are needed to enhance their experience in their specific field further.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, labour relations specialists are more likely to have skills like "hr," "collective bargaining agreements," "mediation," and "payroll." But a employee relations coordinator is more likely to have skills like "human resources," "powerpoint," "crm," and "investor relations."
Employee relations coordinators typically earn similar educational levels compared to labour relations specialists. Specifically, they're 1.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 6.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Labour relations specialist vs. Specialist
Types of labour relations specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
