The Office of Employee Relations oversees faculty and staff labor relations at all UConn campuses and serves as the University’s labor and employment counsel. The Office is an affiliate relationship to the Office of the General Counsel. The Office reports to the Chief Human Resources Officer.
Employee Relations negotiates and administers collective bargaining agreements for faculty (UConn-AAUP), non-teaching professional staff (UCPEA), postdocs (UAW-Postdocs) and graduate employees (GEU-UAW). We also assist the State of Connecticut Office of Labor Relations with the negotiation of state-wide collective bargaining agreements that cover the University’s classified employees such as public safety (police and fire), maintenance and clerical personnel. We also provide on-site administration of these state-wide agreements.
The Office provides the University community with direction and guidance on how to effectively manage relationships with the numerous labor organizations that represent the University’s workforce. We collaborate, provide advice and guidance to the Department of Human Resources and the University administration to ensure that personnel actions comply with the University-specific and statewide collective bargaining agreements. We actively participate in developing and enforcing workplace policies and procedures and support the University’s ongoing compliance with the laws and regulations that govern the employment relationship. We assist departments and labor unions with conflict resolution, grievance processing and the adjustment of other workplace disputes that are governed by collective bargaining. In the event that workplace disputes cannot be resolved informally, we represent the University in labor arbitration and other administrative proceedings including, but not limited to matters pending before the Connecticut Commission of Human Rights and Opportunities, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission and the Connecticut and United States Departments of Labor. We also serve as the University’s liaison to the Connecticut Attorney General for employment-related litigation matters that involve the University and/or its officials.
Our expert staff also provides guidance in other employee relations areas such as performance management, employee counseling and progressive discipline. We coordinate with campus and external compliance offices to ensure that there is a prompt University investigation and response to incidents of serious workplace misconduct. We refer University employees and administrators to appropriate internal and external resources (such as the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Office of University Compliance, the Department of Human Resources, etc.) to respond to workplace questions or concerns that are not within the purview of the Office of Employee Relations.
