Labor Relations HR Business Partner

SSA Marine; Draper (UT); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401k plan

Paid time off

Health insurance

Job summary

SSA Marine in Salt Lake City, Utah, seeks a Labor Relations HR Business Partner to serve as the on-site expert, aligning HR and labor-relations strategy with business goals. You will collaborate with local leadership, HR, and legal to drive engagement, organizational effectiveness, and compliance.

This role supports labor relations operations, works five days in office, and reports to regional management and corporate HR.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of HR experience.
• 5+ years in labor relations with unionized environment.
• Knowledge of NLRA and bargaining process.
• Experience interpreting and administering CBAs with legal counsel.
• Knowledge of federal/state employment laws (ADA, ADEA, EEO, FMLA, FLSA, OSHA).
• Mediation and conflict-management skills.
• Strong interpersonal communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to travel to support operations and bargaining sessions.

Responsibilities

• Serve as lead on-site labor relations advisor on employee relations, grievances, investigations, and settlements.
• Support leadership with on-site HR resources, documentation for bargaining team, and communications between union and local operations.
• Collaborate with local management, HR, and legal to prepare for grievance meetings, arbitration hearings, and labor relations committees.
• Ensure compliance with NLRA, CBAs, and applicable employment laws.
• Oversee employee relations and compliance with company policies and labor agreements.
• Develop talent programs and training in performance management, harassment, and policy guidelines.
• Assist with recruiting strategies and onboarding processes as needed.
• Support leaves of absence processing (FMLA, WC) and succession planning.

Skills

HR experience

Labor relations

NLRA knowledge

CBA interpretation

Employment law

Mediation

Communication

Travel flexibility

Ambiguity management

Training

Job description

The Labor Relations HR Business Partner establishes and executes human resources and labor relations strategy aligned with SSA Marine’s business objectives at our Salt Lake City, Utah operation. This role serves as the primary on-site human resources and labor relations subject matter expert, supporting the management of the day-to-day relationship between company leadership and our workforce.

This position works at all levels of the HR "stack” strategic, operational, and tactical — and influences effectively across the organization. The HR Labor Relations Business Partner will collaborate with local management, HR, leadership, and legal counsel to drive employee engagement, organizational effectiveness, labor relations excellence, and workforce compliance. This position must navigate through ambiguity, recognizing and establishing buy-in when it is appropriate to introduce more structure and process without derailing current production.

This position will support the Salt Lake City office with labor relations operations and HR support. The role will work onsite 5 days in office and will report both to the local regional management as well as corporate human resources management.

Labor Relations

• Serve as the lead on-site local labor relations advisor on employee relations matters, including contract interpretation, contract compliance, dispute resolution, grievances, investigations, corrective action, arbitrations, and terminations.
• Support the location by serving as the on-site HR resource to leadership, corporate HR, Legal, and operations.
• Provide local knowledge, operational context, workforce data, and documentation needed to support the bargaining team.
• Serve as a communication link between the bargaining team and local operations, keeping leaders and supervisors appropriately informed and prepared.
• Partner with HR and Legal to help supervisors and managers understand their responsibilities and obligations when working with a union workforce.
• Partner closely with local management, HR and legal in preparing the company during grievance meetings, fact-finding processes, arbitration hearings and labor relations committee meetings.
• Ensure compliance with the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), collective bargaining agreements, and applicable employment laws.

Employee Relations & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with Company policies and processes, and applicable federal, state, and local employment laws. This will also include ensuring wages, benefits and working conditions are adhered to as outlined in the collective bargaining agreement, employee handbook, and under all state and federal laws.
• Investigate workplace misconduct and advise management on disciplinary procedures.
• Partner with team to improve manager and employee performance by identifying and clarifying problems; evaluating potential solutions; implementing selected solution; coaching and counseling managers and employees.
• Partner with local management, HR management and/or legal on potential employee relations to include coaching & development, corrective action plans, union grievances, and terminations.
• Collaborate with the leadership team to champion and accelerate a culture of excellence in which people feel engaged and inspired to deliver top business results.
• Partner with HR leadership to improve manager and employee performance by identifying and clarifying problems; evaluating and implementing potential solutions; and determining next steps for coaching and counseling managers and employees.

HR Business Partnership

• Partner with operational leaders to support business objectives, workforce planning, employee engagement, and organizational effectiveness.
• Oversee change management within the HRIS system for managers, to include pay changes, transfers, retirement, termination, etc. Ensure all guidelines are followed on these actions.
• Partner with leaders to develop and implement recruiting strategies. This may include the administrative management of recruiting processes to attract high-quality candidates to include creating job descriptions, assisting managers with posting jobs, compensation analysis, creating offer letters, communication, and onboarding.
• Responsible for processing and management of leaves of absence, which will include FMLA, WC, and other applicable leaves of absence.
• Partner with managers to identify key performers and potential for growth when reviewing succession planning at those locations when needed.
• Take an active role with managers in the ongoing development of talent programs, including retention, performance management, goal setting, succession, and training.
• Train managers on labor laws, contract terms, and fair employment practices.
• Partner with HR leadership in conducting management/employee training in topics including performance management, harassment, and all other applicable required policy guidelines and trainings.
• Respond to employee inquiries promptly and educate employees on HR practices and procedures.
• Maintain in-depth knowledge of legal requirements related to day-to-day management of employees, reducing legal risks, and ensuring regulatory compliance. Partner with the HR management and/or legal department as needed/required.
• Maintain management guidelines by partnering with the senior levels of Human Resources staff to ensure policies and processes are communicated clearly and in a timely manner to employees.
• Respond to inquiries promptly and educate employees on HR related practices and procedures.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 8 years of Human Resources experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of Human Resources with direct labor relations responsibilities in a unionized environment, including contract administration, grievance handling, and supporting the collective bargaining process.
• Demonstrated experience supporting a location or business unit through active labor negotiations, including familiarity with the pre- and post-election, first-contract, or contract renewal environment.
• Working knowledge of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), including good-faith bargaining obligations, permissible and impermissible employer communications during negotiations;
• Demonstrated experience interpreting and administering collective bargaining agreements, including partnering effectively with legal counsel on labor matters.
• Demonstrated knowledge of federal and state employment law, including ADA, ADEA, EEO/Affirmative Action, FMLA, FLSA, and OSHA.
• High-level mediation and conflict management skills, with the ability to represent the company effectively in day-to-day labor interactions while recognizing when to escalate to leadership and legal.
• Ability to operate effectively in a highly ambiguous, fast-moving environment where policies, processes, and precedents are being established for the first time.
• Superior interpersonal communication and presentation skills, with the ability to bring immediate credibility to the HR function.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and accuracy.
• Ability to travel as needed to support operations, bargaining sessions in a support capacity, the bargaining process, and hearings.
• Ability to bring immediate credibility to the human resources function through professional skills.
• Project the highest levels of integrity while winning through a consultative and embracing personality.
• Superior interpersonal communication and presentation skills, as well as proven organizational skills.
• Attention to detail and accuracy is a must.

Qualifications Preferred

• Experience in shipping, maritime, logistics, transportation, warehousing, or distribution industries.
• Direct experience supporting workforces represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and/or Office Clerical Unit (OCU); ILWU experience strongly preferred.
• Prior experience supporting location through CBA process and initial contract implementation.
• PHR, SPHR, SHRM-CP, or SHRM-SCP certification.
• Prior experience supporting a company-side bargaining team in a non-lead capacity.

Supervisory Responsibilities: No

Work Environment

• Required job duties are normally performed in a climate-controlled office environment.
• Required 5-day work week in-office environment.
• Exposure to computer screens.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
• May be required to travel domestically and work as needed after core business hours.

Our company is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Benefits

Eligible employees (and their families) may qualify for medical, dental, and vision insurance, as well as having basic life and accidental death insurance, paid disability insurance, including paid parental leave if eligible, and an Employee Assistance Program. Employees will receive paid sick and vacation time, and company holidays if eligible. The company also offers paid bereavement leave, and paid jury duty. Eligible employees can enroll in our company's 401k plan, as well as a retirement plan. Employees will be eligible for discretionary and/or metric-based bonuses dependent on their position.