Description
About the Role
WPAS administers health, pension and retirement trust funds for union members and their families. Our own workforce is largely unionized, spread across Washington, California, Maryland, Ohio and Connecticut, and covered by several different collective bargaining agreements.
That makes this a labor relations job first. You will be the person management turns to when a question is really a contract question, when an accommodation runs into a scheduling clause, when a performance conversation has to survive a just cause review, when a grievance arrives and someone needs to know what Article 8 actually says. You will sit beside the Chief People Officer through contract administration and bargaining preparation, and you will be the one managers call before they act rather than after.
If you have spent your career explaining to operations leaders why the thing they want to do is or is not available to them under the agreement, this role will feel familiar. If you have never worked in a represented environment, it will not.
What You Will Own
Collective bargaining agreement interpretation and administration across multiple agreements and states, including grievance handling and just cause analysis
Bargaining preparation and support — research, cost modeling inputs, proposal drafting, and sitting at the table
Complex employee relations matters end to end: intake, investigation, findings, and the recommendation that follows
Coaching managers and supervisors through corrective action, performance management, and the conversations they would rather avoid
The ADA interactive process and accommodation determinations, and consistency of leave practice across five states
Consistent application of policy across bargained and non-bargained populations, and the handbook that governs both
Federal and state reporting, and the turnover and retention metrics leadership actually uses
Compensation and Benefits
$105,000 – $115,000 annually, depending on experience. In addition, WPAS offers:
Choice of PPO or HMO Medical plan (Premera or Kaiser respectively)
Delta dental and vision coverage
401k Retirement plan administered by Vanguard; 50% match up to 6% of your contributions
Unlimited Vacation
9 Paid holidays per year and 2 floating holidays
12 sick days per year
Company paid Life Insurance
Equal Opportunity
WPAS is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Reasonable accommodations are available to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this role — if you need one during the hiring process, tell us and we will arrange it.
Requirements
What We Are Looking For
Required. Five or more years of progressive HR experience, including substantive time in a unionized environment. Demonstrated ability to read, interpret and apply a collective bargaining agreement. Experience owning employee relations investigations from intake through recommendation. Working knowledge of federal and state employment law and how it interacts with a CBA. The judgment to deliver an unwelcome answer to a senior leader and make it stick.
Strongly preferred, not required. Hands-on payroll processing experience, particularly in ADP Workforce Now. This role backs up our Payroll Manager during absences and peak periods — it does not run payroll day to day. We would rather hire strong labor relations judgment and train the payroll mechanics than the reverse, so do not rule yourself out on this.
Also valued. Multiemployer or Taft-Hartley experience. Multi-state compliance exposure. SPHR or SHRM-SCP. A bachelor’s degree in human resources, business or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Travel
This role travels to our other offices approximately quarterly. Employee relations work does not happen well over video, and the sites expect to see the person who handles it. If quarterly travel does not work for you, this is not the right role — we would rather you know that now than at offer stage.
