Lead-Employee Relations

Job Requirements

About the Role

The Lead – Employee Relations will serve as the subject-matter expert and trusted advisor on all Employee Relations (ER) matters for Wholesale Banking, New Age Channels, and Contact Centres. This strategic role is responsible for fostering a fair, compliant, and people-first culture by partnering with senior leaders, HR Business Partners, and line managers. The incumbent will manage complex disciplinary and grievance cases end-to-end, design preventive ER programs, identify systemic risks through people-data analysis, and ensure ER practices are legally sound, consistent, and aligned with the bank’s values.

Key Responsibilities

Primary Responsibilities

Own end-to-end management of misconduct and disciplinary cases, ensuring alignment with bank policies and principles of natural justice.

Ensure documentation, timelines, and archival of case files meet audit and regulatory standards.

Drive timely resolution of cases while maintaining confidentiality, fairness, and legal defensibility.

Provide expert guidance to HRBPs, business heads, and line managers on performance issues, conduct concerns, disciplinary actions, and remedial measures.

Coach managers on investigation best practices, difficult conversations, disciplinary letters, and fair performance improvement plans.

Act as the escalation point for high-sensitivity or high-impact cases and collaborate with senior leadership on resolution.

Manage and resolve employee grievances through structured, empathetic, and timely interventions (e.g., informal conciliation, mediation, formal grievance hearings).

Ensure grievance mechanisms are accessible, impartial, and perceived as fair across business units.

Design and implement preventive ER initiatives such as manager workshops, employee awareness campaigns, leadership sensitization, and behavioural interventions.

Partner with learning and leadership teams to embed consistent people-management practices across Wholesale Banking, Digital/New Age Channels, and Contact Centres.

Analyze ER metrics and case trends to identify systemic risks and recommend policy, process, or capability interventions.

Develop dashboards and periodic reports for senior leadership, Audit, Compliance, and Legal teams to highlight trends, risk outlook, and corrective actions.

Lead policy formulation and periodic reviews for employee conduct, disciplinary procedures, grievance redressal, and related processes.

Collaborate with Legal, Compliance, Risk, and Internal Audit to ensure ER processes meet regulatory requirements and mitigate litigation or regulatory risk.

Ensure ER practices are aligned with statutory requirements, labour laws, and industry best practices.

Support cross-functional investigations (e.g., fraud, ethics, regulatory matters) and represent ER in relevant committees.

Promote inclusion, ethical behaviour, and the bank’s values in everyday practice.

Secondary Responsibilities

Support organizational initiatives related to culture, compliance, and leadership development from an ER perspective.

Contribute to cross-functional projects and committees as the ER representative.

Education

Graduate degree in any discipline

Postgraduate degree in Human Resources or Law (preferred).

Professional certifications in Labour Law, Employee Relations, or HR Compliance are an added advantage.

Experience

Minimum 15 years of progressive experience in HR or Employee Relations.

Prior experience in banking, financial services, or other highly regulated sectors is preferred.

Proven track record of managing complex ER cases, policy formulation, and stakeholder engagement.

Skills and Attributes

Technical Skills

Strong understanding of labour laws, regulatory frameworks, and ER case management tools.

Proficiency in data analysis and dashboard creation for ER metrics.

Functional Skills

Expertise in grievance handling, disciplinary procedures, and policy development.

Ability to coach and influence senior stakeholders and line managers

Behavioural & Soft Skills

High ethical standards, discretion, and integrity.

Strong interpersonal, communication, and conflict resolution skills.

Analytical mindset with a proactive approach to risk identification and mitigation.