Employee Relations Program Manager

M&T Bank Corporation; Buffalo (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 149,000; Full time

Job summary

M&T Bank Corporation in Buffalo, NY seeks an Employee Relations professional to oversee workplace accommodations and workforce restructures enterprise-wide, ensuring regulatory compliance and timely support for managers and employees.

You will partner with HR and non-HR stakeholders to manage intake and resolution of accommodation requests, guide restructuring initiatives, and contribute to ER program enhancements using data-driven insights.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 5+ years HR experience, or 9 years combined education/experience with 5+ HR.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills; ability to handle multiple tasks.

Responsibilities

• Oversee intake, interactive dialogue, and resolution of accommodation requests enterprise-wide.
• Partner with HR and non-HR stakeholders to ensure regulatory compliance.
• Manage workforce restructuring initiatives, due diligence, severance documents, and ongoing reporting.
• Provide consultation on restructurings and other ER projects to completion.
• Develop and enhance ER programs using data to identify trends and improvements.
• Respond to accommodation and restructuring inquiries with timely, thorough responses.
• Engage with employees to implement strategic solutions; deliver difficult messages as needed.
• Stay current on ER developments through meetings, seminars, and professional associations.

Education

Bachelor’s degree

HR experience

Job description

Overview

Provides day-to-day oversight and coordination of key Employee Relations (ER) programs with enterprise-wide impact, including but not limited to, workplace accommodations and workforce restructures. Works with managers, employees, and ER team members to provide timely, forward-thinking, and customer-focused support that adheres to applicable regulatory requirements and established internal service level agreements. Applies insights and analytical skills to process improvement initiatives, ER projects, and other evolving related organizational matters.

Primary Responsibilities

Manage the lifecycle (i.e., intake, interactive dialogue, resolution, etc.) of workplace accommodation requests by partnering with Human Resources (HR) and non-HR stakeholders to ensure consistent enterprise-wide application and regulatory compliance. Exercise influence and work with others to address confidential and/or sensitive workplace accommodation requests and issues that may require tactfully navigating employee and/or manager interactions and creatively problem-solving, while ensuring all perspectives are represented. Manage workforce restructuring initiatives to ensure process adherence, compliance with regulatory requirements, and mitigation of organizational risk by conducting comprehensive due diligence, facilitating manager preparation calls, creating and distributing severance documents, and on-going report maintenance. Participate, manage, and/or provide consultation on restructuring initiatives and other corporate projects to completion, as requested by senior management. Participate in development of new and/or enhanced ER programs to meet business needs by leveraging data, analytical skills and detail-orientation to identify trends and make recommendations for process improvements, testing, gap detection, and on-going maintenance as applicable. Serve as a resource for procedural and employee matters by providing thorough and timely responses to accommodation requests and/or workforce restructure inquiries. Interact and engage with employees to identify, develop, and implement strategic solutions that address short- and long-term organizational needs, as well as deliver difficult messages and/or engage in difficult exchanges as needed. Remain current on ER developments by participating in internal and external meetings, seminars, conferences, and professional associations to communicate and/or support business needs and expand professional expertise. Understand and adhere to the Company’s risk and regulatory standards, policies and controls in accordance with the Company’s Risk Appetite. Identify risk-related issues needing escalation to management. Promote an environment that supports a culture of belonging and reflects the M&T Bank brand. Maintain M&T internal control standards, including timely implementation of internal and external audit points together with any issues raised by external regulators as applicable. Complete other related duties as assigned.

Scope of Responsibilities

This position provides enterprise-wide support to employees at all levels, by ensuring consistent application of workplace accommodation and workforce restructuring processes, while mitigating risk from regulatory action or civil litigation. In addition, this position is responsible for engaging in process improvement initiatives that create additional ER team capacity and more positive user experiences.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities

Not Applicable

Education and Experience Required

Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 5 years’ human resources experience, or in lieu of a degree, a combined minimum of 9 years’ higher education and./or work experience, including a minimum of 5 years’ human resources experience Strong verbal and written communication skills Strong analytical skills Strong organizational skills Detail-oriented Experience handling multiple tasks simultaneously in a dynamic work environment with demanding time constraints

Education and Experience Preferred

Minimum of 8 years’ human resources experience Prior employee relations experience Prior experience handling confidential matters

Compensation

M&T Bank is committed to fair, competitive, and market-informed pay for our employees. The pay range for this position is $89,600.00 - $149,300.00 Annual (USD). The successful candidate’s particular combination of knowledge, skills, and experience will inform their specific compensation.

Location

Buffalo, New York, United States of America

About M&T Bank

Great companies have an enduring sense of purpose. At M&T, our purpose is a simple one: make a difference in people’s lives and uplift the communities we serve. M&T Bank Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. M&T’s affiliates offer advice, guidance, expertise and solutions across the entire financial spectrum, combining M&T Bank’s traditional banking services with the wealth management and institutional capabilities offered by Wilmington Trust. M&T Bank has a network of over 1,000 branches and 2,200 ATMs that span 12 states from Maine to Virginia and Washington, D.C. For more than 165 years, M&T has strived to take an active role in our communities and build long-lasting relationships with our customers. We are a bank for communities—combining the capabilities of a large bank with the care of a locally focused institution. As an employer of choice, we are proud to offer competitive benefits ranging from medical and retirement to forty hours of paid volunteer time, each year.

Core Values

Our core values – integrity, ownership, collaboration, curiosity, and candor – drive the work we do. We seek to further build upon our record of success by bringing in top talent and fresh skill sets while continuing to support the growth and development of all our team members. View M&T’s Human Capital Report to learn more.

Equal Employment Opportunity

M&T Bank is unwavering when it comes to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, age, disability, citizenship, pregnancy, veteran status, military status, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local laws.

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