Employee Relations Executive Job Description

An Employee Relations Executive handles the day-to-day relationship issues between employees and the company in offices, service firms and non-unionised workplaces. The role logs and investigates grievances, supports disciplinary processes with proper documents, answers policy questions, assists the POSH Internal Committee with records and runs exit interviews. It reports to the HR Manager or an employee relations lead. A good ER executive keeps every case fair, documented and closed on time.

Detail	For this role
Department	Human Resources
Level	Mid level
Reports to	HR Manager
Direct reports	None
Experience	2 to 5 years in HR, with exposure to grievance handling or disciplinary cases

Employee Relations Executive job description template

Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.

Job title: Employee Relations Executive

Department: Human Resources

Reports to: HR Manager

Location: [City], [office, branch or site]

About the role

Key responsibilities

Receive grievances through email, helpline, drop box or meetings, log each one and acknowledge it within the set time.
Gather facts on grievances and misconduct complaints through interviews, documents and records, and write neutral fact-finding notes.
Draft show cause notices, warning letters and other disciplinary letters from approved templates for the HR Manager's review.
Schedule and minute disciplinary meetings, and make sure the employee gets a fair chance to respond.
Support the POSH Internal Committee with meeting logistics, notices, confidential records and timelines.
Answer employee questions on attendance, leave, conduct and exit policies, and escalate questions of interpretation.
Conduct exit interviews, code the reasons for leaving and share monthly themes with HR business partners.
Track every open case in the ER tracker with dates, owners and status, and chase overdue items.
Run awareness sessions on the code of conduct, grievance process and POSH for new joiners and teams.
Keep case files confidential and share them only with authorised people.

Requirements

MBA, PGDM or MSW in HR
Knowledge of POSH procedures and basic labour law
A certification in workplace investigations is an advantage
2 to 5 years in HR, with exposure to grievance handling or disciplinary cases

KRAs and KPIs for a Employee Relations Executive

Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.

Key result area	How to measure it
Case acknowledgement	Every grievance acknowledged within 2 working days
Case closure	At least 90 percent of grievances closed within 21 days
Documentation quality	No disciplinary action reversed because of missing or weak documentation
Exit insights	Exit interviews held with at least 90 percent of leavers, with a monthly theme report
Conduct awareness	Every new joiner attends a code of conduct session within 30 days
Confidentiality	No case information shared beyond authorised people

Skills and tools

Grievance handlingFact-finding interviewsDrafting notices and lettersDisciplinary procedurePOSH process supportPolicy interpretationExit interview analysisNeutralityDiscretionClear writing

Tools used day to day: HRMS, Case tracker in Excel, MS Word, Secure file storage, Video conferencing tools.

Reporting line and career path

Moves up from: HR Executive, HR Trainee, HR Coordinator
Next roles: HR Business Partner, HR Generalist, HR Manager

Interview questions for a Employee Relations Executive

An employee says her manager shouts at her in meetings. What are your first steps?
How do you write a fact-finding note without taking sides?
What should a show cause notice contain?
Two employees give opposite accounts of the same incident. How do you proceed?
How do you recognise a complaint that belongs with the POSH Internal Committee?
A manager asks you for details of a complaint made against him. What do you say?

Managing a Employee Relations Executive in ZeniaHR

AttendanceOffice based on the General shift with web punches on the office network. When hearings take place at a branch, the executive can punch from the mobile app there, so the day does not show as absent.LeaveKeep leave clear of scheduled hearings and Internal Committee meetings, which are hard to move once the parties are informed. Whoever covers must already be authorised to see confidential case files.Performance and KRAsQuarterly cycle with KPI goals for acknowledgement, closure time and documentation quality, weighted toward closure. Dates in the case tracker give the numbers, and the HR Manager should check a sample of files each quarter for fairness.

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Frequently asked questions

What does an employee relations executive do?

An employee relations executive handles grievances, supports disciplinary processes, drafts notices and warning letters, answers policy questions, assists the POSH Internal Committee and conducts exit interviews. The role keeps case records complete and confidential and makes sure every employee issue is handled fairly and on time.

What is a show cause notice in HR?

A show cause notice is a written letter asking an employee to explain an alleged act of misconduct, such as unauthorised absence or policy violation, within a set number of days. It states the facts and the rule broken. The employee's reply decides whether the matter is closed, a warning is issued or a formal inquiry follows.

What skills are needed for an employee relations role?

Employee relations work needs neutral fact-finding, careful letter drafting, knowledge of disciplinary procedure and POSH, and the ability to explain policy plainly. Discretion is essential, since case details are confidential, and so is calm, respectful communication with upset employees and defensive managers.