Regional Manager, Labour Relations

The Labour Relations Regional Manager is responsible for supporting frontline staff in alignment with Paladin's people-first approach, with a strong focus on labour relations strategy and execution across Ontario.

This role leads a team of Labour Relations Specialists and provides expert guidance on union-related matters, including interpreting collective agreements, advising leaders on risks and obligations, and supporting sound operational decisions. The position is also accountable for maintaining positive union-management relationships, ensuring consistency, compliance, and effective issue resolution.

Working closely with operations teams, the Regional Manager promotes best practices, supports employee engagement initiatives, and enhances the overall employee experience.

Responsibilities:

Supports the Leadership Group:

• Acts as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) on all labour & employee engagement matters. Provide advice and consultation on labour and employee relations; oversee and work in collaboration with managers conducting escalated workplace investigations as needed.

• Oversee a team of Labour Relations Specialists.

• Provides subject matter expertise on Employee Relations and serves as a trusted advisor to leadership in matters related to ER and employee engagement.

• Partners with the P&C team to identify key metrics for the area of responsibility and empowers leaders with HR data and insights.

• Track grievances, investigations and other metrics as required to provide key Employee Labour Relations statistics for Labour and Employee Relations reporting.

Leads the Implementation of LR Processes:

• Represent and support management in grievances arbs/mediations/human rights/MOL etc.

• Management and oversight of the grievance process while providing advice and oversight on the grievance, arbitration and mediation matters.

• Recommend process improvements based on analysis.

HR Policy Compliance Development & Implementation:

• Ensures administrative tasks are completed (e.g. documentation for investigations) and relevant reports are filed in line with company procedures and applicable legislation.

• Interpret provisions of the Collective Agreements; assist to ensure compliance of relevant legislations, policies, procedures, standards and Collective Agreements.

Employee Engagement:

• To support employee engagement initiatives such as employee engagement surveys.

• Processes LOA's and RTW's for front-line staff; ensures proper documentation and system status updates.

• Be a point of contact for employees on matters pertaining to Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

• Travel across Ontario is required based on business needs.

• Additional tasks and duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• 5-8 years labour relations experience in union and non-union environment within a large organization;

• Experience in contract interpretation, grievance administration/disputes resolutions.

• Ability to think and act strategically;

• The skills necessary to negotiate and influence diverse stakeholders regarding challenging organizational issues;

• Ability to identify, understand, and meet/exceed the requirements of diverse internal and external customers; excellent problem-solving, decision-making and time management skills;

• Comfortable with tight timelines and high volume;

• Have post-secondary education in Human Resources, Labour Relations or related field;

• CHRP or CHRL designation is an asset.