Employee Relations Specialist

For nearly 20 years, TheKey has helped clients achieve successful long-term aging at home with comprehensive, concierge-based care. Ensuring the dignity, safety, and independence of its clients, TheKey is committed to changing how the world lives and ages at home. Employee-teams get the training, resources, and support they need to deliver an exceptional care experience for clients and their families. Founded in Silicon Valley, TheKey has grown from a single location to service coverage throughout North America enabling clients to live life on their own terms, in their own homes.

The Employee Relations Specialist (ERS) serves as the first line of support for all incoming Employee Relations matters across the U.S. and Canada. This role provides foundational case management, conducts standard investigations, ensures accurate documentation, and delivers timely, policy-aligned guidance to leaders and caregivers.

The ERS is responsible for managing Tier 1 and Tier 2 ER cases—routine matters with clear processes and moderate complexity—while supporting the Senior Employee Relations Advisor on higher-risk investigations. This role plays a critical part in ensuring fairness, consistency, and compliance across the organization and contributes to a positive and safe workplace culture.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Serve as the primary intake point for new ER cases, assessing urgency, risk level, and required routing.
   

• Categorize cases according to the ER tiering system and initiate case files in FreshService.
   

• Conduct administrative elements of ER investigations including scheduling interviews, gathering documents, and maintaining confidential case notes.
   

• Ensure timely and accurate documentation of all ER activity in accordance with internal processes, compliance standards, and audit expectations.
   

• Lead Tier 1 and Tier 2 investigations (policy violations, attendance, low-level conflict, standard performance matters, early-stage professionalism issues).
   

• Prepare objective summaries, timelines, and findings for review by the Senior Advisor.
   

• Partner with leaders (CGMs, GMs, RDs, RDBDs) to ensure alignment on next steps, expectations, and corrective action recommendations.
   

• Provide coaching to leaders on documentation practices, communication expectations, and policy adherence.
   

• Support Senior Advisor with higher-tier cases through intake, data gathering, interview support, and follow-up.
   

• Guide leaders on consistent application of progressive corrective action including Documented Counselings and Written Warnings.
   

• Support the creation and delivery of performance documentation under the direction of the Senior Advisor.
   

• Reinforce organizational best practices related to investigations, reporting, and documentation standards.
   

• Maintain accuracy of ER data, tagging, and categorization within FreshService.
   

• Assist with auditing cases to ensure completeness and compliance.
   

• Support the development and rollout of ER training, toolkits, forms, and resources.
   

• Contribute to dashboards and reporting metrics used by leadership to identify trends and areas of risk.
   

• Collaborate with the HR Service Center, Payroll, Benefits, Operations, Sales, and Talent Acquisition to ensure aligned and coordinated support.
   

• Demonstrate a high level of customer service to both caregivers and leaders while maintaining neutrality and objectivity.
   

• Provide follow-up and closure communication to ensure leaders understand outcomes and expectations.

Required Skills, Education and Certifications:

• 1–3 years’ experience in HR, employee relations, HR operations, or a related field (healthcare or service-based industry preferred).

• Foundational knowledge of employment law and HR compliance (U.S. required; Canada a plus).

• Ability to establish cross-functional relationships and credibility at all levels and geographies.

• Able to communicate empathetically and diplomatically, demonstrating an understanding of each stakeholder’s specific situation and maintaining high integrity and confidentiality.

• Effective analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to organize and analyze data.

• Capable of applying discretion and sound judgment while leading sophisticated processes, decisions and handling sensitive information.

• Strong customer relationship skills (customer service centric)

• Exceptional coaching, facilitation, and conflict resolution skills

• Detail-focused; accuracy is critical.

• Prior business writing experience.

• Team player - able to thrive in a fast-paced work environment.

• Ability to manage and be accountable for multiple projects and case load, working independently.

• Critical thinking is important to success in this role.

Preferred Skills, Education and Certifications:

• HR Certification

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to travel approximately up to 10% of the time.

• Ability to use standard office equipment such as personal computer, laptop, telephone, photocopy machine, etc.

Benefits for full time employees

• Medical/Dental/Vision Insurance
• TouchCare VirtualCare
• Life Insurance
• Health Savings Account
• Flexible Spending Account
• 401(k) Matching
• Employee Assistance Program
• PTO Plan for Non-Exempt Employees
• Flexible PTO Plan for Exempt Employees
• Holidays and Floating Holidays
• Pet Insurance
   

TheKey is an equal opportunity employer. TheKey prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

California Residents Only:

In accordance with Article 2 of the California Health and Safety Code - California Community Care Facilities Act, TheKey requires timely and accurate positive fingerprint identification of California based applicants as a condition of employment. If an applicant has been convicted of a non-exemptible crime, and in compliance with all applicable state and local laws, their conditional offer will be rescinded.

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