HR MANAGER EMPLOYEE & LABOUR RELATIONS

City of Toronto; Toronto; On-site; CAD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Toronto is seeking a Manager of Employee Relations to lead a team and strategically manage labor relations. This permanent, full-time role requires expertise in employee relations and human resource management, with a focus on promoting inclusivity and compliance within a complex organizational structure.

Qualifications

• Experience leading, developing and engaging staff.
• Extensive consulting experience in employee and labor relations.
• Familiarity with employment legislation and collective agreements.

Responsibilities

• Lead grievance, mediation, and arbitration processes.
• Develop language for Memoranda of Agreement and conduct training.
• Provide strategic advice on employee and labor relations issues.

Skills

Communication

Consultation

Problem Solving

Conflict Resolution

Negotiation

Education

Post-secondary education in a professional discipline

Job description

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• Division & Section:People & Equity, Employee Relations
• Job Type & Duration:Permanent, Full-time Vacancy
• Shift Information: Monday to Friday, 35 hours per week
• Affiliation: Non-Union
• Number of Positions Open: 1
• Posting Period:18-Jul-2025 to 28-Jul-2025

Job Description:

As Manager of Employee Relations in this permanent, full-time opportunity, you will lead a skilled and dedicated team in promoting and ensuring a positive labour relations environment for the City of Toronto. You will act as a strategic partner for your assigned divisions and, as such, assist them in achieving their operating objectives by providing advice, support and guidance with respect to the interpretation of, and compliance with, collective agreements, policies and legislation.

You’re more than a specialist in employee and labour relations. You bring a broad perspective of human resource management and business processes and understand how they integrate and interrelate to achieve organizational success. This insight, combined with your strong knowledge of key employee and labour relations challenges facing large, complex organizations such as the City of Toronto, will make you a valuable member of our Human Resources Division.

Responsibilities:

• The City's grievance, mediation and arbitration process for various employee groups will fall within the scope of your portfolio and, while you will work diligently to settle issues prior to arbitration, you're also equipped to select an arbitrator, as needed and direct legal counsel in the preparation and presentation of arbitration.
• Experienced and well-versed in all things bargaining, you will develop language for Memoranda of Agreement, lead and direct a large, diverse management bargaining team, and conduct both joint management/union and management-only training on any subsequent collective agreement changes.
• Having served in a senior capacity on a collective bargaining team, worked extensively in collective agreement interpretation and application, and dealt with union representatives, you’re prepared to chair or co-chair collective bargaining for the City. This will mean working with the Director, Employee Relations and Senior City staff.
• You will effectively lead, manage, motivate and train staff, ensuring effective teamwork, continuous learning and high standards of work quality, customer service and organizational performance.
• You will be instrumental in ensuring that employee relations practices and processes support and embrace diversity and promote a culture of inclusion.
• A confident, persuasive communicator with proven interpersonal, consultation and problem-solving skills, you can establish partnerships, enhance customer service and interact effectively at all organizational levels, and identify trends, needs, options and opportunities for change or improvement, and recommend solutions to employee and labour relations issues.
• You will collaborate with colleagues in other functional areas of the People and Equity Division to ensure a thorough analysis and comprehensive approach to addressing HR issues. You are thoroughly familiar with employment and related legislation, contractual obligations and sound labour relations practices, and ready to make your mark on the City by initiating, leading and implementing progressive and proactive employee and labour relations policies and programs.
• Your thorough knowledge of labour relations, City policies, collective agreements and employment related legislation (e.g., Human Rights Code, Labour Relations Act, Employment Standards Act) will enable you to provide strategic, accurate and sound leadership and advice to your staff and clients to support labour relations related business decisions in a changing environment.
• Your strong consultative, communication, problem solving, conflict resolution and negotiation skills will be key in providing strategic advice, consultation and support to management on employee and labour relations issues. You have a strong ability to foster a positive organizational culture that emphasizes on highly professional and ethical standards to support public service excellence.

Qualifications Required:

A post-secondary education in a job-related professional discipline combined with relevant management training and experience, or an equivalent background, is expected.

A confident, persuasive communicator with proven interpersonal, consultation and problem-solving skills, you can establish partnerships, enhance customer service and interact effectively at all organizational levels, and identify trends, needs, options and opportunities for change or improvement, and recommend solutions to employee and labour relations issues. You are thoroughly familiar with employment and related legislation, contractual obligations and sound labour relations practices, and ready to make your mark on the City by initiating, leading and implementing progressive and proactive employee and labour relations policies and programs.

You bring experience leading, developing and engaging staff while also supporting and promoting an inclusive workplace culture. You have extensive consulting experience, providing strategic advice and support to management on employee and labour relations issues.

This leadership role would be an excellent career move for a strategically and tactically accomplished professional whose extensive experience in the human resources field includes specialization in employee and labour relations within a major unionized public or private sector organization. This is complemented by your post-secondary education in a professional discipline pertinent to the job function or an equivalent combination of education and work experience.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

The City is an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to creating a workplace culture of inclusiveness that reflects the diverse residents that we serve. Learn more about the City’s commitment to employment equity .