Senior Labour Relations Advisor

Why Verve?

At Verve Senior Living, we’re driven by a shared commitment to creating meaningful experiences for the older adults we serve. Our teams bring passion, creativity, and heart to everything they do, and it shows in our culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement. We’re proud to have received Canada's Best Managed Award in 2023, 2024, and 2025, and to have been recognized with the Best Managed Gold Standard designation in 2026, reflecting our continued excellence and long-standing dedication to service, leadership, and care. What truly sets us apart are the people who choose to build their careers here. Whether you're supporting our residences or contributing within our corporate community, your work plays an important role in helping seniors live longer, better and you’ll be supported by a team that believes in growing together, celebrating success, and having fun along the way. If you’re looking for a place where your work has real impact, and where you can thrive personally and professionally, we’d love to meet you!

ACCOUNTABILITY OBJECTIVE

Reporting to the National People Manager, the Senior Labour Relations Advisor provides focused labour and employee relations support across assigned residences and business areas. The role is the primary day-to-day resource for collective agreement administration, grievance management, workplace investigations, labour relations research, and manager guidance within established organizational mandates.

The Senior Advisor works with a high degree of labour relations specialization and independence, while escalating matters involving significant legal, operational, financial, reputational, or precedent-setting risk to the National People Manager. The role supports consistent, practical, and defensible outcomes and contributes to a constructive labour relations climate aligned with Verve Senior Living values and service standards.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Collective Agreement Administration and Advisory Support

• Serve as the labour relations resource for the People Partners, providing guidance on how to address routine to moderately complex labour relations matters.
• Interpret and apply collective agreements, company policies, past practices, memoranda of settlement, arbitration awards, and applicable legislation in a consistent manner.
• Prepare written interpretations, options, risk assessments, and recommended courses of action for operational and People leaders.
• Identify inconsistent practices, emerging issues, or potential precedents and refer matters with broader organizational implications to the National People Manager.

Grievance and Dispute Resolution

• Assist in the management of grievances at the final internal step, including fact gathering, document review, issue analysis, strategy development, meeting preparation, and drafting responses.
• Lead settlement discussions for routine and moderately complex matters within approved authority and in consultation with the National People Manager as appropriate.
• Maintain accurate grievance records, timelines, settlement terms, precedent considerations, and outcome tracking.
• Support mediation and rights arbitration matters by preparing chronologies, document briefs, witness materials, research, and summaries for internal leaders or external counsel.

Collective Bargaining and Labour Strategy Support

• Research and prepare bargaining proposals, costing inputs, comparator data, wage and settlement trends, and collective agreement language.
• Participate as a member of bargaining teams and support meeting preparation, note-taking, proposal tracking, drafting, and implementation of renewed agreements.
• When delegated, lead defined bargaining tables, within an approved mandate, with oversight from the National People Manager.
• Support interest arbitration preparation, including issue summaries, comparators, evidence organization, and implementation planning.
• Identify operational impacts and implementation requirements arising from negotiated or awarded changes.

Workplace Investigations and Employee Relations

• Conduct fair and timely workplace investigations, where assigned.
• Develop investigation plans, conduct interviews, assess evidence and, within delegated authority, make findings on a balance of probabilities or provide findings and recommendations for review, and prepare clear, neutral, and defensible reports.
• Advise People and operational leaders on corrective action, discipline, performance management, and termination considerations, within established approval and escalation protocols.

Education, Research, and Continuous Improvement

• Deliver training, tools, and coaching to operational managers, in collaboration with the People Partners, on collective agreement administration, grievance handling, investigations, discipline, and union-management relations.
• Monitor arbitration awards, tribunal decisions, legislative developments, bargaining outcomes, and sector trends and summarize practical implications for the People team.
• Analyze grievance, investigation, discipline, attendance, and settlement data to identify patterns, risks, and opportunities for proactive intervention.
• Develop and maintain templates, guides, trackers, playbooks, and standard processes that improve consistency and file management.
• Contribute labour relations expertise to People team projects, policy development, and organizational initiatives.

Relationship Management

• Build professional and constructive working relationships with union representatives while protecting the organization’s rights, operational requirements, and bargaining positions.
• Collaborate effectively with residence leaders, People team colleagues, Finance, Operations, external counsel, and other stakeholders.
• Communicate complex labour relations issues in clear, practical language tailored to the audience.

QUALIFICATIONS

• A university degree or college diploma in labour relations, human resources, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• A minimum of four years of progressively responsible experience in labour relations, or employee relations in a unionized environment.
• Experience in a multi-site organization and in seniors living, healthcare, hospitality, or another continuously operating service environment is preferred.
• Demonstrated experience interpreting and administering collective agreements, managing grievances, advising on discipline and performance matters, and conducting workplace investigations.
• Experience supporting collective bargaining, mediation, rights arbitration, or interest arbitration. Experience leading lower-complexity negotiations within an approved mandate is an asset.
• Working knowledge of applicable labour, employment standards, human rights, occupational health and safety, workers compensation, and accessibility legislation. Multi-jurisdictional experience, particularly in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta, is an asset.
• Strong research, analytical, writing, facilitation, and verbal communication skills, with the ability to produce clear, practical, and defensible recommendations.
• Demonstrated judgment in identifying risk, maintaining confidentiality, managing competing priorities, and determining when escalation is required.
• A CHRP, or equivalent professional designation is preferred.
• A valid driver’s licence and access to a reliable vehicle is required. Travel to residences may be required.

All offers of employment are subject to a Criminal Background Check. We thank all those who apply; however only candidates under consideration will be contacted.

Verve Senior Living is an inclusive, equitable and accessible workplace. We are dedicated to building a team that reflects the diversity of the residents and communities in which we live and serve. If you require accommodation for any portion of the recruitment and hiring process, please let us know.

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