Job Board

Specialist, Labour Relations

Job Code: 285
Department: Human Resources

Status of Position
Permanent Full Time

Hours Per Week: 5 X 7.5 Hours

Employment Contract
Management and Confidential Exclusion Bylaw

Position Description
Job posting closes: May 07, 2025, at 05:00 p.m. (Yukon Standard Time)

At our core, the City of Whitehorse is committed to cultivating an inclusive employee community and workspace, confronting racism and biases for fairness and equity, while advancing reconciliation and accessibility.

The City promotes work life balance for its employees and offers flexible work arrangements, such as work from home and compressed work weeks, subject to applicable administrative directives.

An Eligibility List may be established from this competition – the duration of the eligibility list may be up to 12 months. The eligibility list may be used to fill future permanent full-time, permanent part-time, temporary full-time, temporary part-time, term or casual vacancies within the same department and classification based on the organizational needs by going to the next highest ranked candidate until the eligibility list expires.

This position is covered by the Management and Confidential Exclusion Employment Bylaw.

The City wishes to thank all applicants for their interest but only those candidates selected to advance in the recruitment will be contacted.  Note that only those candidates eligible to legally work in Canada will be considered.

Job Summary:

The incumbent provides services on a wide range of Labour Relations issues to management and staff. 

Duties and Responsibilities:

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Provides consultation and advice to managers and staff on a wide range of Labour Relations/Employee Relations matters such as the interpretation and administration of collective agreements, dealing with complaints and grievances, performance management, discipline, and absenteeism.
2. Supports managers / supervisors through workplace investigations including: assisting with development of investigation plans, drafting of questions, advising on procedural issues, analyzing evidence, drawing conclusions and making recommendations for corrective actions where appropriate.
3. Coordinates collective bargaining preparations including:  seeking and compiling stakeholder feedback, gathering relevant research and data, analyzing industry trends, preparing briefing notes for management, drafting proposals, and drafting communications to the union.
4. Participates as a member of the management bargaining team and is responsible to maintain accurate records of agreed-upon issues throughout negotiations and to work with the union to finalize the content of the new collective agreement.  Also leads roll-out and implementation of new collective agreement as required.
5. Guides managers / supervisors through the grievance process in accordance with best labour relations practices including providing advice on strategic grievance handling, grievance processing, procedural requirements, and dispute resolution options.
6. Tracks grievance trends to identify collective bargaining priorities and / or change management opportunities.
7. Plans and assists internal clients in implementing strategic labour relations communication in a multi-union environment.
8. Recommends appropriate disciplinary action to internal clients aligned with relevant Collective Agreements and Administrative Directives.
9. Subject matter expert in Labour Relations / Employee Relations and provides human rights advice with respect to duty to accommodate and bona fide workplace requirements.
10. Ensures compliance with all relevant policies and legislation.
11. Upholds good communication and cooperative working relationships with Union Representatives, fosters positive and proactive labour meetings, and works with the union on items to determine if items can be resolved before filing a grievance..
12. Participates in special projects as assigned and will be responsible for partnering with and influencing internal stakeholders.
13. Acts as Manager, Human Resources as assigned.
14. This description contains elements necessary for the identification and evaluation of the job.  The incumbent may be required to perform other related duties.

Position Requirements
Working Conditions:

Majority of the work is performed under normal office conditions.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Degree in Human Resources or Commerce / Business Administration with a major in Human Resources or Labour Relations
• CHRP designation is required
• 7 years experience advising employer clients as a labour relations specialist in the public or private sector
• Experience in collective bargaining as a bargaining team member or research support an asset
• Ability to interpret and apply collective agreement language
• Knowledge of relevant legislation
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and work independently in a fast-paced environment with little supervision
• Interpersonal and conflict resolution skills, sensitivity to ambiguity, multi-tasking and attention to detail, analytical and communication skill and a positive outlook
• Leads by example by adhering to all City Policies, Administrative Directives, and Bylaws

An equivalent combination of education, training and experience may be considered.

Examples of Required Equipment to Operate:

General office equipment including computer skills to operate software programs related to intranets, spreadsheets, word processing, electronic mail, etc.

Accommodation Requests:

Shortlisted candidates who require accommodation or have accessibility needs during the selection process are encouraged to reach out to the Recruiter and make requests to ensure their full participation. The City of Whitehorse is committed to reviewing requests and making arrangements for reasonable accommodation and accessibility requests. You may email name of the recruiter @whitehorse.ca and careers@whitehorse.ca.