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About the Role
The Legal Department is seeking an experienced, detail-oriented Employee Relations & Policy Specialist to manage workplace investigations, oversee employment policy compliance, and support internal employment legal matters. This role acts as a critical bridge between Legal and Human Resources, leading objective workplace investigations, maintaining multi-jurisdictional employment policies, and supporting pre-litigation risk mitigation across a distributed workforce.
Responsibilities
- Maintain, update, and draft employee handbooks, multi-state employment policies, and standard operating procedures to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local labor laws.
- Conduct fair, objective internal investigations into policy violations and workplace concerns under the guidance of Employment Counsel. Draft comprehensive investigation summaries, findings, and remediation recommendations.
- Provide guidance on performance management, corrective action, coaching, performance improvement plans (PIPs), accommodations, and leave programs.
- Analyze employee relations trends, maintain compliant case documentation, and support leader capability through training, coaching, and mentoring on employee relations best practices.
- Draft, tailor, and track standardized and custom employment agreements and severance and release agreements in compliance with applicable law.
- Serve as the primary point of contact for agency inquiries, employment record requests, and subpoenas. Coordinate document collection, litigation holds, and evidence compilation for outside defense counsel.
- Review engagements to assess proper worker classification (W-2 vs. 1099) under federal, state, and local legal tests; maintain classification documentation and records.
- Monitor statutory changes, state/local leave laws, and workplace regulations to proactively identify required policy updates and support pre-litigation risk mitigation.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, or related field; or a Paralegal Certificate from an ABA-approved program.
- 2-3 years of progressive experience in Employee Relations, Workplace Investigations, or Employment Law (in-house legal/HR environment or employer-side law firm preferred).
- Strong working knowledge of federal, state, and local employment laws (FLSA, FMLA, Title VII, ADA, ADEA, state wage-and-hour laws).
- Proven ability to conduct neutral, sensitive workplace interviews and synthesize complex facts into concise written reports.
- Exceptional strategic judgment, emotional intelligence, discretion, and the ability to influence outcomes across all levels of the organization.
- Demonstrated capability in advising on complex performance management, leaves, accommodations, and employee relations issues.
- Exceptional legal/policy writing, editing, and organizational skills.
- Proficiency with legal research databases (Westlaw/LexisNexis) and document management systems.
Location
- New York, NY
Work Type
- Remote
- Exempt
Experience Level
- 2-3 years
Education Level
- Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, or related field
- Paralegal Certificate from an ABA-approved program
Salary/Compensations
- $68,000 - $85,000
About the Company
- Macmillan Publishers is the U.S. trade company that is part of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, a large family-owned group of media companies headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Holtzbrinck Publishing Group's publishing companies include prominent imprints around the world that publish a broad range of award-winning books for children and adults in all categories and formats. U.S. publishers include Celadon Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Flatiron Books, Henry Holt & Company, Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, The St. Martin's Publishing Group, and Tor Publishing Group. In the UK, Australia, India, and South Africa, companies in the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group publish under the Pan Macmillan name. The German publishing company, Holtzbrinck Deutsche Buchverlage, includes among its imprints S. Fischer, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Rowohlt, and Droemer Knaur.
Equal Opportunity
- Macmillan is proud to be an equal opportunity employer consistently striving to foster a culture where everyone belongs. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and identities. Qualified applicants are evaluated without regard to race, color, religion, age, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability status, physical ability, neurodiversity, genetic information, protected veteran status, family and economic status and background or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. We prohibit discrimination of any kind and will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with applicable law.