{"id":1450931,"url":"https://alion.io/job/simplify-hr-proprietary-limited-employee-relations-manager","title":"Employee Relations Manager","company":{"id":1891733,"name":"Simplify HR","domain":"simplify.hr","url":"https://alion.io/company/simplify-hr","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":null,"truth_index":null},"role":"HR","role_family":"HR","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["South Africa"],"countries":["ZA"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":18500,"max_usd":40000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":16},"experience_years_min":7,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"closed","first_seen_at":"2026-09-07T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-07","last_verified_at":"2026-11-02T20:25:33Z","board_verified":false,"closed_at":"2026-11-02T20:25:33Z","days_open":56,"trust":{"level":"not_scored","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":56},"description":"Employee Relations Manager\nPURPOSE OF THE ROLE\nThe Employee Relations Manager is a group-level specialist responsible for managing all employee relations and industrial relations matters across the enterprise. This role exists to protect the organisation from labour-related risk by ensuring full compliance with all relevant South African labour legislation, representing the company at the CCMA.\nThe incumbent serves as the primary subject-matter expert on employee and employer rights, providing guidance to HR teams and line managers across all entities. Experience in neighbouring countries’ labour legislation is advantageous given the group’s footprint across Southern and West Africa.\nKEY RESPONSIBILITIES\nIndustrial Relations & CCMA\nRepresent the company at CCMA conciliation and arbitration proceedings, preparing all documentation, witness statements, and legal arguments.\nManage all aspects of dispute resolution including unfair dismissal claims, unfair labour practice disputes, and mutual interest matters.\nPrepare and present cases at arbitration hearings, ensuring thorough preparation of bundles, chronologies, and witness coaching.\nTrack and report on all CCMA matters, providing regular updates on case status, outcomes, costs, and trends.\nDisciplinary & Grievance Management\nOversee and advise on all disciplinary processes across the group, ensuring procedural and substantive fairness in line with the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and the company disciplinary code.\nAdvise on disciplinary hearings for serious and complex matters including misconduct, incapacity, and operational requirements.\nManage the end-to-end grievance procedure, ensuring timely investigation, resolution, and documentation of all employee grievances.\nMaintain accurate records of all disciplinary and grievance proceedings.\nLegislative Compliance & Policy\nEnsure group-wide compliance with all relevant South African labour legislation including the LRA, BCEA, EEA, SDA, OHSA, COIDA, and UIF.\nDraft, review, and update employee relations policies, procedures, and the company disciplinary code to reflect legislative changes and best practice.\nMonitor legislative developments and proactively communicate the impact of changes to HR leadership and line management.\nSupport Employment Equity compliance and reporting where it intersects with employee relations matters.\nAdvisory & Training\nServe as the primary point of contact and advisor to HR Business Partners and line managers across all entities on ER/IR matters.\nDevelop and deliver training programmes for managers on disciplinary procedures, grievance handling, managing poor performance, and basic labour law.\nProvide proactive risk assessments and recommendations to mitigate employee relations exposure across the group.\nCoach and upskill on ER best practice and legislative compliance.\nReporting & Analytics\nDevelop and maintain an ER case management tracker covering disciplinary actions, grievances, CCMA cases, and outcomes.\nProduce monthly and quarterly ER reports for the HR Executive, highlighting trends, risks, costs, and recommendations.\nAnalyse ER data to identify patterns and root causes, proposing preventative strategies to reduce recurring issues.\nQUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE\nRequired\nRelevant degree in Labour Law, Labour Relations, Human Resources, or LLB.\nMinimum 7-10 years of dedicated employee/industrial relations experience, with substantial exposure to CCMA arbitration and conciliation.\nProven track record of independently representing an employer at CCMA proceedings.\nIn-depth knowledge of South African labour legislation.\nStrong experience in conducting workplace investigations and preparation for disciplinary hearings.\nAdvantageous\nExperience with labour legislation in neighbouring countries (Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, or Nigeria).\nAdmitted attorney or advocate (non-practising).\nExperience in a multi-entity or group environment spanning retail, wholesale, and logistics.\nKEY COMPETENCIES\nIntegrity - Upholds ethical standards and fairness in all ER processes; maintains confidentiality.\nGet Things Done - Manages high caseloads efficiently; meets deadlines on CCMA filings and disciplinary processes.\nCustomer Focus - Treats employees and managers as internal clients; provides responsive, practical ER guidance.\nTeamwork - Collaborates with HR Business Partners and line managers across all entities and geographies.\nEmbrace Differences - Navigates diverse workforce dynamics with cultural sensitivity and impartiality.\nAnalytical Thinking - Identifies trends in ER data and translates insights into proactive risk mitigation.\nCommunication & Influence - Articulates complex legal concepts clearly; persuasive in hearings and advisory engagements.\nConflict Resolution - De-escalates disputes and facilitates constructive resolution between parties.\nAttention to Detail - Ensures procedural compliance and accurate documentation across all ER matters.\nWORKING CONDITIONS\nFull time at the office: 1 Sandton Drive, Johannesburg.\nTravel to retail stores, warehouse facilities, and other office locations as required for investigations, hearings, and CCMA appearances.\nOccasional travel to neighbouring countries may be required as the group’s African operations expand.","description_format":"text","description_chars":5282,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":7,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Professional Services","Human Resources","Recruiting Software & ATS"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-29T07:47:14Z"},{"event":"close","at":"2026-11-02T20:25:33Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":null,"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/simplify-hr-proprietary-limited-employee-relations-manager","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/simplify-hr-proprietary-limited-employee-relations-manager.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-05T06:06:03Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":7527,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-06T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":1891733},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1891733"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fsimplify-hr-proprietary-limited-employee-relations-manager"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fsimplify-hr-proprietary-limited-employee-relations-manager"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fsimplify-hr-proprietary-limited-employee-relations-manager"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/simplify-hr-proprietary-limited-employee-relations-manager\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fsimplify-hr-proprietary-limited-employee-relations-manager"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":1450931}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"simplify.hr","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":1450931},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); 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