Labour & Employee Relations Specialist

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The Labour and Employee Relations Specialist (LER) leads complex labour and employee relations matters across Austria, Switzerland, Poland.

The role provides operational, tactical and strategic Labor and Employee Relations support to the People Partner Team, HR Business Partners, HR Generalists and business leaders, with a focus on providing legally sound, practical and business-aligned outcomes when dealing with Labour and Employee Relations matters.

This role is responsible for strengthening constructive social partner relationships during day-to-day operations and business transformation initiatives whilst respecting local laws in the relevant country as well as reducing reputational, legal and employment risk in sensitive employee relations matters.

The role will also collaborate with the Danaher Global Labor and Employee Relations function and relevant HR / Legal / Compliance Centers of Excellence, acting as liaison for cases that fall within the scope of Global LER and supporting the appropriate use of the case management data base. This position reports to the LER Multi-Country & EWC within the People Partner team EMEA.

This role is based in Austria and requires significant travel to the respective other countries, as and when there is a requirement to do so.

What you will do:

• Provide expert support on complex employee and labour relations matters by working closely with the HR team to coordinate and lead consultation and negotiation processes with employee representative bodies. Manage a broad range of employee relations topics, including disciplinary matters, grievances, performance issues, separations, transformation initiatives, workforce-related risks and labour law compliance.
• Structure, support and advise Peoples Partners in consultation and negotiation processes with employee representative bodies across the assigned region. Participate directly in these processes, including the preparation of required documentation and agreements. Foster constructive relationships with works councils and unions, and trust-based relationships that support business objectives and legal compliance.
• Act as the lead LER partner for reorganisations, restructurings and transformation initiatives. Support organisational redesigns, workforce evolution, and changes to operating models, ensuring legally compliant, consistent, and business-balanced outcomes.
• Lead and support complex workplace investigations and performance management processes. Follow up on necessary actions such as preparing documentation, providing guidance to managers, conducting risk assessments and holding individual employee meetings. Support stakeholders throughout disciplinary, misconduct and grievance processes, partnering with Legal, Compliance, HR and Centres of Excellence to ensure procedurally fair, robust, compliant and defensible outcomes.
• Operate as the escalation point within Cytiva’s evolving HR operating model for complex, non-standard and higher-risk ER matters, working through clear escalation and hand-off routes with People Partners, HR Business Partners, HR Generalists, Danaher Assist, Legal and Global LER / HR Centers of Excellence. Drive continuous improvement through policies, playbooks, templates, training, communications, and case insights that strengthen consistency, compliance, and risk prevention.

Who you are:

• Master’s or bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Law or a related field, or comparable professional experience. Multiple years of progressive experience in Labor & Employee Relations, ideally within a matrixed international organization.
• In-depth knowledge Austrian labor law and procedures relating to works councils and labor unions. Knowledge of Switzerland and Poland labor laws of advantage.
• Proven experience supporting reorganisations, restructurings, transformations or sensitive organisational change programmes across a multi-country European scope. Strong demonstrated ability to support multiple countries, stakeholders and legal environments, operating effectively in a multi-country matrix organisation.
• Experience in managing labor relations and negotiating with employee representative bodies, as well as in drafting consultation documents and company agreements. Ability to operate with a high degree of autonomy, judgement and influence, including making recommendations on matters with material legal, employee relations, reputational or business risk.
• Be able to travel to our sites in the countries covered in order to conduct one-on-one interviews with employees and provide them with in-person support.
• Fluency in English is essential.

It would be a plus if you also possess previous experience in:

• Working in a regulated, manufacturing, life sciences or other compliance-intensive environment.
• Developing training content or playbooks for managers on labor relations and people risk topics.

Cytiva, a Danaher operating company, offers a broad array of comprehensive, competitive benefit programs that add value to our lives. Whether it’s a health care program or paid time off, our programs contribute to life beyond the job. Check out our benefits at Danaher Benefits Info.

Join our winning team today. Together, we’ll accelerate the real-life impact of tomorrow’s science and technology. We partner with customers across the globe to help them solve their most complex challenges, architecting solutions that bring the power of science to life.

For more information, visit www.danaher.com.