Employee Relations Advisor

Job Posting End Date: 09/17Unum is a company of people serving people. As one of the world's leading employee benefits providers and a Fortune 500 company, Unum's financial protection benefits help protect more than 36 million working people and their families from the financial impact of illness or injury. Unum's three distinct, but similarly focused US businesses – Unum US, Colonial Life, and Starmount Life – are each a market leader in making disability, life, accident, critical illness, dental, and vision insurance accessible in the workplace.Headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Unum has significant US operations in Portland, Maine, Worcester, Massachusetts, and Glendale, California with over 35 field offices nationwide. Colonial Life is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina with over 40 field offices nationwide. Starmount Life is based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is the dental and vision center of excellence for Unum in the US.General Summary:General SummaryThe Employee Relations Advisor works in collaborative partnership with the Employee Relations (ER) Team by providing a professional service provision of administration work for ER including but not limited to unemployment claims, overtime calculations, severance, short-term disability backfill, and other important documents related to the off-boarding life cycle. Pertinent information and expertise is exchanged on a timely basis thereby facilitating the success of client and organization initiatives. This position is recognized as the "go-to" ER expert on the People Delivery team. This role will provide guidance to other HR Representatives on ER related matters and provide training/mentoring to less experienced HR Representatives. In accordance with escalation guidelines, the role will be assigned specific employee relations cases through the People Delivery ServiceNow portal. Likewise, the role may be assigned specific employee relations cases by an ERC and will serve in a consultative role at times by providing guidance to management on basic performance-based employee relations issues and policy guidance. The incumbent must demonstrate independent judgement and discretion and recognize when to escalate more complex matters and issues identified through the administration of these processes to the ERC, Health and Wellbeing Consultant (HWC) or Security Team as appropriate.Principal Duties and Responsibilities

Handle and oversee administration work for ER including but not limited to unemployment claims, overtime calculations, severance, STD backfill letters and other important documents related to the off-boarding life cycle.

Acts as a first line of support for resolution of policy and process coaching and guidance on tier 1 ER questions – actively triaging, resolving, and/or escalating each item. Remains online and available to answer employee queries using service management technology.

Serve in a lead capacity to effectively deliver and continuously review, evaluate and improve service lines and processes.

Regularly uses judgment and discretion to interpret corporate policy.

Provides mangers with tools, templates and other resources to address issues appropriately.

Share interpretation of measures and trends with ER Team and HR Generalists on a timely basis.

Develop resolutions to complex problems, exercise significant latitude and effective problem-solving skills in the implementation of solutions, and apply sound judgment to escalate and develop improvement recommendation

Applies excellent understanding of the interdependencies with all facets of HR to include Workday and ServiceNow to ensure business processes are efficient, accurate and compliant.

Responsible for understanding and balancing the needs of the business and our clients while ensuring practical, consistent application of HR policies and practices. Applies understanding and ensures the consistent and effective application of HR Policies, practices and programs and compliance with FMLA/ADA, Title VII, and other federal and state employment laws.

Follow all Standard Operating Procedures (“SOPs”) and adhere to all organizational and department specific policies, procedures, and SLAs.

Capable of working on a small team, in a role with responsibility for day-to-day administration, providing support to end users, and facilitating and improving business process flow.

Own responsibility for confidentiality, data integrity, ensuring its validity, accuracy and timely entry into the applicable HR system(s).

Articulates and maintains HR standards, inform management of issues that require attention and suggest opportunities for improvement.

Conducts first level of testing on business process and/or systems testing required in support of upgrades, enhancements, and or new work activities to ensure that requirements are met prior to ER team testing.

Consistently makes an independent business decision in response to demand.

Conducts timely exit interview follow-ups, documents findings and provides updates to ERC team and HR Generalists related to trends and themes. Notifies ERC of issues found requiring ERC involvement.

Assists ERC and HR Generalists with conducting employee interviews for pulse check surveys, proactive exit/stay interviews and other employee interviews as needed.

Approaches work in a way that builds strong relationships with managers and employees to provide coaching support on policy guidance, basic performance and low risk attendance issues.

More experienced Employee Advisors may be given the opportunity to provide investigative support or assist with more complex ER cases and/or lead projects as a part of their development plan to prepare them for entry into the ERC role.

May perform other projects and duties as assigned.

Job Specifications

Undergraduate degree preferred

2-5 years of related HR experience or equivalent relevant experience

Experience applying in-depth knowledge of HR policies, procedures, standards, and legal requirements, in order to answer related questions via phone and email within established SLAs.

Ability to use discretion, exercise good judgment and resourcefulness, tact, diplomacy and maintain strict confidentiality

Strong analytical skills to be able to break down a problem, situation or process into its component parts, to separate the main issues from side issues, to understand the nature of parts and their relationship to one another.

Excellent interpersonal, written and oral communication skills

Basic knowledge of employment law

Strong time management and organization skills to schedule time effectively and use efficient work methods and tools.

Team player who works effectively with colleagues to achieve targets and objectives.

Ability to work under pressure, remain calm, objective and controlled in responding to urgent or demanding situations.

Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite, ServiceNow and Workday desired.

Meets the standards for this position, as defined in the Talent Management framework

IN1Unum and its family of businesses offer world-class training and development, generous compensation and benefits packages, and a culture built on employee ideas.Unum is an equal opportunity employer, considering all qualified applicants and employees for hiring, placement, and advancement, without regard to a person's race, color, religion, national origin, age, genetic information, military status, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, or protected veteran status.Company:UnumA Fortune 500 company, Unum’s family of 10,000 employees spans three countries and dozens of office locations. Our employees focus each day on delivering financial protection benefits to millions of workers and their families when they need it most.The Unum enterprise includes Unum in the U.S. and U.K., Colonial Life and Starmount Life Insurance – each a market leader in making disability, life, accident, critical illness, dental and vision insurance accessible in the workplace.