Employee Relations Specialist – People Operations

Who We Are:

Woda Cooper Companies, Inc. is a rapidly growing development, construction, and property management organization dedicated to the creation of quality affordable housing to benefit those who need it most. We are an employee-owned, passion-driven group that changes each community of which we are a part. We manage over 16,000 housing units in 18 states, proudly serving seniors, veterans, and other economically challenged groups. We seek ambitious, talented individuals who want to grow with a rapidly expanding company whose success is not only measured in dollars and cents, but in lives changed. With a development portfolio of $1.5 billion, Woda Cooper consistently ranks among the top affordable housing developers and owners in the country by Affordable Housing Finance.

Position Summary:

The Employee Relations Specialist is responsible for promoting a respectful, compliant, and high-performing workplace by building strong relationships between employees and management. This position is responsible for a range of employee relations matters—including conflict resolution, employee disciplinary action, and investigations—while fostering open communication and consistent application of company policies.

Who You'll Report To:

You will be reporting to the Employee Relations Manager.

What You'll Own:

• Serves as the initial contact and liaison for intake and assessment of employee complaints, concerns, and workplace issues.
• Writes and reviews Corrective Actions and Performance Improvement Plans; advises and coordinates with managers on implementation of disciplinary action; tracks all open issues; follows up with managers throughout disciplinary process; serves as mediator as needed for employee interpersonal issues.
• Provides guidance to managers and employees on Company policies, performance expectations, and conflict resolution.
• Assists Employee Relations Manager with workplace investigations; requests statements, conducts interviews and gathers information for employee relations matters such as harassment allegations, work complaints, or other concerns.
• Provides relevant personnel information to internal Legal department and outside counsel as needed to assist with subpoenas, lawsuits, and responses to claims against the Company.
• Unemployment: Responds to separation requests; tracks all claims and appeals; writes appeal letters; prepares background information, notifies and prepares relevant witnesses, and attends unemployment appeal hearings to advocate on behalf of the Company; manages each states' UI SIDES portal; reports fraudulent unemployment claims to relevant state agencies.
• Creates training materials and coaches managers on handling employee performance, conduct, and interpersonal issues; provides feedback to senior leadership about managers.
• Backup for onboarding, benefits, leaves of absence, recruiting, and worker’s compensation as needed.
• All other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Who You Are:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal, negotiation, and conflict resolution skills.
• Excellent time management skills with the proven ability to meet deadlines.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Thorough understanding of laws, regulations, and guidelines related to HR and employment laws.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite or related software.

What You'll Bring:

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Labor Relations, Business, Accounting, or related field required.
• 1-3 years of professional human resource administration and prior experience in employee relations required.
• SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP preferred.

What You’ll Get:

We offer competitive wages and annual bonus opportunities. Benefits include:

• Medical, Dental and Vision
• Short Term Disability and Life Insurance
• 401k with Company Match
• 100% Employee-Owned Company with the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
• Cell Phone Discount
• 12 Days Paid Time Off
• 8 Paid Holidays & 2 Floating Holidays!
• Fitness Reimbursement
• Professional Development Reimbursement