HR Generalist - Employee Relations

Primary Responsibility:

The HR Generalist – Employee Relations is responsible for fostering a positive, fair, and productive work environment by supporting effective communication and collaboration between employees, supervisors, and management. This position serves as a key resource for employee and labor relations, workplace investigations, and engagement activities. The HR Generalist will work closely with supervisors to address workplace issues, ensure consistent policy application, and support compliance with company, union, and legal standards.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Employee \& Labor Relations

+ Serve as a primary contact for employee questions, concerns, and workplace issues.

+ Partner with supervisors to address and resolve employee concerns in a timely and professional manner.

+ Participate in union activities and support contract compliance and interpretation.

+ Assist with investigations and disciplinary processes while ensuring fair and consistent application of policies.

• Investigations

+ Conduct thorough and impartial investigations into employee complaints, including harassment, discrimination, policy violations, or workplace conflicts.

+ Collect and document evidence, interview involved parties and prepare detailed investigation summaries and findings.

+ Provide recommendations for appropriate action in alignment with company policy, labor agreements, and employment law.

+ Maintain confidentiality and integrity throughout all stages of the investigation process.

• Supervisor Guidance \& Support

+ Advise supervisors on appropriate and consistent disciplinary actions, documentation, and communication.

+ Provide coaching to managers and employees on conflict resolution, performance management, and corrective action procedures.

• Policy \& Compliance

+ Review, evaluate, and update HR policies and procedures to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local regulations as well as the collective bargaining agreement.

+ Maintain awareness of regulatory changes and assist with implementing necessary updates to HR practices.

• Engagement \& Recognition:

+ Plan and organize company activities, employee recognition events, and milestone celebrations to promote a positive workplace culture.

+ Coordinate employee anniversary recognition programs and related communications.

+ Conduct employee exit interviews, identify trends and feedback themes, and provide actionable recommendations to leadership to support employee retention and workplace improvements.

• Leave of Absence Management

+ Administer leave of absence requests, including FMLA, medical leave, and other statutory or company-provided leave programs.

+ Ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations and maintain accurate documentation for all leaves.

+ Advise management and employees on leave policies and procedures.

• Compliance \& Reporting

+ Ensure HRIS data supports compliance reporting requirements for multiple worksites.

+ Prepare and submit required reports, including EEOC, ACA, and other federal or state compliance filings.

+ Maintain HR documentation and records to meet regulatory requirements and internal policies.

+ Partner with leadership to ensure HR processes across all locations remain compliant.

• Unemployment Management:

+ Manage unemployment claims and related processes, including responding to state agencies, providing accurate documentation, and representing the company in unemployment hearings when necessary.

+ Advise management on unemployment risk mitigation and proper documentation to support claims.

+ Maintain records and track trends in unemployment claims to identify opportunities for process improvements.

• HR Document Control

+ Manage and maintain employee personnel files in accordance with company policy, union contract requirements, and federal/state regulations.

+ Ensure all employee documentation is complete, accurate, and retained in compliance with recordkeeping standards.

+ Conduct regular audits of HR files and databases to verify data accuracy and compliance.

+ Process and file disciplinary actions, evaluations, training records, and other sensitive documentation promptly and securely.

+ Support HR data integrity by maintaining organized and up-to-date physical and digital record systems.

As a generalist role, this position will have the opportunity to collaborate closely with the other HR Generalists on the team to build cross-functional knowledge and gain exposure to all areas within the HR Department. This collaborative approach encourages continuous learning, strengthens overall team support, and helps create a well-rounded and flexible HR team environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field preferred.
• 3–5 years of HR experience, with a focus on employee relations, investigations, and/or labor relations preferred.
• Strong understanding of employment law, workplace investigations, and HR best practices.
• Experience working in a unionized environment preferred.
• Ability to be present and support employees, supervisors, and activities during all three shifts as necessary.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and conflict resolution skills.
• Ability to conduct objective, detailed, and timely investigations.
• High level of confidentiality, integrity, and professionalism.
• Strong organizational, documentation, and record management abilities.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office and HRIS systems.

Who is Klauer Manufacturing Company?

Founded in 1870, Klauer was built on hard work, quality products, and service. Our mission is to enable our customers in the building products industry to win through the quality, consistency, and predictability of everything we do. We have multiple locations, where our goal is to provide our employees with a safe and family-oriented work environment for our employees. As a team, we maintain our mission through our cultural values and company priorities: safety, attitude, effort, and accountability.

What can you expect from Klauer Manufacturing?

You can expect to feel part of the Klauer Manufacturing family, which is inclusive, regardless of gender, background, disability, or status. We offer a generous benefits package for all team members, including work-hour flexibility, health, vision, dental, company-paid life insurance, short-term and long-term disability, 401(k) retirement plan, 10 paid holidays, paid vacation, paid funeral leave, and paid jury duty.

Physical Demands:

Physical demands for this job require standing walking, sitting, pushing, pulling, bending, and stooping. May work in a standing or seated position or alternate between the two as necessary. Strength rating for this job is M – Medium work – exerting 20 to 50 pounds of force occasionally, and/or 10 to 25 pounds of force frequently, and /or greater than negligible up to 10 pounds of force constantly to move objects. Physical demand requirements are in excess of those for light work.

Class I – Medium (Dictionary of Occupational Titles 4th Edition Vol. I \& Vol. II)