Regional Employee Advocate

Summary of Job: The Regional Employee Advocate serves as the primary People Operations partner for assigned business units and regional locations, providing employees and leaders with responsive, knowledgeable, and consistent HR support. This position builds strong relationships with employees and managers, supports employee relations and workforce needs, and delivers People Operations programs and processes across the employee lifecycle, including onboarding, benefits support, leaves and accommodations, engagement, compliance, performance management, and offboarding.

The Regional Employee Advocate is expected to understand the needs of the business, exercise sound judgment, identify opportunities for improvement, and partner across People Operations to deliver an exceptional employee experience. Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Serve as the primary People Operations point of contact for assigned business units and regional locations, building strong relationships with employees and leaders and developing an understanding of business and workforce needs.

Advise and support managers on employee relations matters, including performance concerns, disciplinary actions, performance improvement plans, employee complaints, workplace concerns, and terminations. Conduct workplace investigations as appropriate and review disciplinary documentation for consistency, completeness, and alignment with Company practices. Escalate complex or higher-risk matters as appropriate.

Administer leaves of absence and workplace accommodations, including FMLA, ADA, disability, personal, and military leave. Guide employees and managers through applicable processes, ensure required documentation and follow-up are completed timely, and escalate complex or higher-risk matters and employment decisions as appropriate. Support employee engagement and retention within assigned business units by identifying trends and employee concerns, gathering feedback, communicating opportunities, and partnering with leaders and People Operations to develop appropriate solutions.

Support organizational and business changes within assigned groups through employee and manager communication, training, implementation support, and follow-up. Deliver a consistent and welcoming onboarding experience for new employees, ensuring required onboarding activities are completed timely and employees understand the programs, resources, and support available to them. Partner with Talent Acquisition and hiring managers to support a smooth transition from candidate selection through onboarding, including resolution of background screening, drug screening, and pre-employment issues as appropriate.

Support employee offboarding, including coordinating separation processes, ensuring required documentation and system activities are completed, communicating applicable benefits and resources, and helping provide a consistent employee experience through separation. Administer and support employee benefit processes, including enrollments, status changes, terminations, QMCSOs, EOIs, QDROs, and 401(k) distributions and loans.

Serve as a resource for employee benefit questions and partner with the Benefits team and vendors on complex issues or matters requiring additional expertise. Support annual Open Enrollment by educating employees on available resources and plan options, answering questions, assisting with enrollment needs, and helping drive timely completion within assigned business units. Coordinate drug and alcohol testing requirements, including random, DOT, job-site-specific, post-incident, and reasonable-suspicion testing, and support related processes in accordance with Company policy and applicable requirements Serve as a knowledgeable resource for employees and managers regarding People Operations programs, policies, processes, benefits, and HR systems.

Partner with Benefits, HRIS, Talent Acquisition, Payroll, and other teams to resolve questions and provide a seamless employee experi