Corporate Counsel Labor & Employment (Hybrid)

Description:

You are a Labor & Employment attorney who has a strong working knowledge of employment laws, especially those relating to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. You have experience conducting workplace investigations or have an interest in doing so. You hold yourself to high standards as a professional, but you're also a team player who gets along well with others. You are interested in a corporate legal work environment and desire to grow with our team.
In this role, your primary responsibility will be supporting our existing Labor & Employment Counsel to advise clients on labor and employment-related matters in the Company, including managing employment-related litigation. You will also assist on projects and spend approximately 30 percent of your time conducting workplace investigations.
We are a fun, fast-moving team responsible for providing legal advice, governance, and transactions support for a publicly-traded company with over 20 million acres of North American timberlands and an industry-leading Wood Products business. You will report directly to the Vice President & Assistant General Counsel and work primarily with a subset of our team responsible for providing guidance to An American Timberland Company on all things related to employment practices. We take our work (but not ourselves) seriously and strive to achieve excellence in everything we do. This position is located in downtown Seattle at An American Timberland Company's corporate headquarters, currently with a hybrid schedule working from home Monday and Friday if desired.
Primary responsibilities include:

• Draft, review, and advise on developing human resources policies and processes.
• Develop and conduct legal training for human resources and business leaders.
• Assist in managing employment-related litigation.
• Conduct investigations regarding and draft responses to demand letters and administrative complaints (e.g., EEOC, DOL, various state and provincial agencies).
• Help oversee and evaluate outside counsel on employment related matters including litigation.
• Independently handle legal matters and projects. Provide legal support and advice on labor issues, including campaigns, trainings, grievances/arbitrations, and negotiations.
• Provide legal support and advice to safety, compensation, payroll, and benefits teams, including on issues such as OSHA and related local and provincial laws, vacation, health/welfare and retirement benefits, deductions, and compensation reviews.
• Advise human resources and business leaders on labor and employment related matters, which may include, but are not limited to discrimination and harassment; disability accommodation and leaves of absence; disciplinary and termination processes; company restructuring activities; wage & hour matters; and local, state, provincial, and federal leave programs.
• Draft and review employment-related agreements.
• Assist on company projects as needed.
• Conduct investigations of complaints or allegations involving discrimination, retaliation, or harassment on legally protected characteristics, including but not limited to race, gender, age, sexual orientation, and religion, among others; as well as regarding employees who are relatives or in a relationship.
• Serve as a neutral party who can thoroughly investigate allegations to gather all pertinent information and share well-reasoned conclusions with the appropriate leaders, all within a timely manner.
• Provide well-documented written reports following your investigations.

Qualifications:

• Juris Doctorate degree from accredited law school.
• Typically a minimum of 5+ years of experience practicing employment law, both advice work and supporting litigation required; previous experience conducting workplace investigations preferred.
• Active member in good standing with the Washington bar is preferred.
• Exceptional writing, oral communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills.
• Proven record of assuming legal responsibilities in a fast–paced, highly collaborative team environment.
• Good team player, with a focus on client service.
• Self-starter with a sense of urgency, integrity, and fairness.
• Comfortable supporting and taking direction from senior Labor & Employment Counsel.
• Legal knowledge of and experience with labor law, immigration law, Canadian labor and employment laws, and OSHA and related local/provincial laws a plus.
• Ability to establish and maintain relationships, credibility, and trust with clients, stakeholders, law department team members, and other colleagues.
• Ability to travel at times.
• Strong reading and reasoning skills, including the ability to interpret and apply policies in a logical, consistent, and legally-supported manner.
• Comfortable serving as a witness in arbitration or court proceedings.
• Excellent judgment and ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Ability to handle high-stress or politically sensitive issues and investigations.

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