We are seeking an experienced, bilingual English/Spanish HR Generalist to provide hands-on HR support within a fast-paced food ingredient, agricultural processing, and manufacturing environment.
Reporting to the HR Manager, this position will partner closely with plant leadership, supervisors, employees, and third-party administrators across a broad range of HR functions, with particular responsibility for employee leave administration, employment compliance, employee relations, and workforce support.
A significant portion of this role will involve coordinating FMLA, LOA, ADA-related leave and accommodation processes, and other applicable leave programs. The HR Generalist will serve as a primary point of contact for employees and managers, working closely with leave administrators to ensure requests are handled accurately, consistently, and in accordance with company policy and applicable federal, state, and local requirements.
This is a highly visible, plant-facing role supporting both hourly and salaried employees. The strongest candidate will be comfortable moving between the production floor and administrative HR work, advising frontline leaders, supporting employees through sensitive leave and employment matters, resolving employee issues, and managing multiple priorities with urgency, discretion, and sound judgment.
Candidates from food and beverage manufacturing, agricultural processing, ingredient manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, industrial manufacturing, warehousing/distribution, or similarly labor-intensive operations should translate particularly well.
Key Responsibilities
- Serve as a day-to-day HR partner to plant leadership, supervisors, and employees.
- Act as a primary resource for FMLA, LOA, ADA-related leave and accommodation processes, and other applicable leave programs.
- Coordinate leave cases with employees, managers, HR leadership, healthcare documentation processes, and third-party leave administrators.
- Guide employees and managers through leave eligibility, required documentation, timelines, return-to-work expectations, extensions, and related processes.
- Track active leave cases and ensure timely communication, documentation, follow-up, and escalation when appropriate.
- Support the interactive process related to ADA accommodations, return-to-work restrictions, and other employment-related limitations.
- Help ensure leave and accommodation practices are administered consistently and in accordance with applicable policies and legal requirements.
- Maintain accurate and confidential leave, accommodation, and employee-relations documentation.
- Ensure compliance with applicable EEOC, FLSA, ADA, OSHA, FMLA/LOA, wage-and-hour, employment, and record-retention requirements.
- Monitor HR practices and employee transactions for potential compliance risks and escalate concerns appropriately.
- Provide guidance on employee relations, performance management, attendance, corrective action, policy interpretation, investigations, and workplace concerns.
- Manage employee complaints and ensure concerns are documented, investigated, resolved, and escalated appropriately.
- Support workers’ compensation, unemployment claims, hearings, return-to-work activities, and related documentation.
- Administer and explain employee benefits and help resolve enrollment, eligibility, or claims issues.
- Support compensation processes, payroll accuracy, and compliance with wage-and-hour requirements.
- Support staffing and workforce planning for hourly and salaried positions.
- Manage full-cycle recruiting, including job postings, sourcing, screening, interview coordination, offers, background checks, drug screens, and pre-employment requirements.
- Conduct new-hire and rehire onboarding and maintain compliant employee personnel records.
- Administer employee changes including promotions, transfers, compensation adjustments, terminations, and other HR transactions.
- Serve as a key administrator of the HRIS, ensuring employee data and transactions are accurate and timely.
- Build relationships with colleges, trade schools, workforce organizations, staffing partners, and community resources to support recruiting needs.
- Support training, development, succession planning, employee engagement, and retention initiatives.
- Analyze HR and workforce data to identify trends and provide actionable information to HR and plant leadership.
- Support positive employee and labor relations across the facility.
- Assist with plant events, communications, and other HR initiatives as needed.
Preferred Background
- 3+ years of Human Resources Generalist experience required.
- Bilingual English/Spanish required.
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field preferred.
- Hands-on experience administering FMLA, LOA, ADA accommodations, return-to-work processes, and related leave programs strongly preferred.
- Experience coordinating leave cases with employees, supervisors, healthcare documentation, and third-party leave administrators.
- Strong working knowledge of FMLA, ADA, FLSA, EEOC, OSHA, wage-and-hour, workers’ compensation, unemployment, employment law, and record-retention requirements.
- Demonstrated ability to interpret HR policies and employment requirements and provide practical guidance to employees and managers.
- Previous HR experience within manufacturing, food processing, agricultural processing, CPG, warehousing/distribution, or another high-volume hourly workforce environment strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated experience handling employee relations and workplace investigations.
- Experience supporting workers’ compensation, return-to-work programs, attendance matters, and employee restrictions or accommodations.
- Experience with recruiting and onboarding hourly production, operations, maintenance, skilled-trades, and/or professional employees.
- Hands-on experience with HRIS systems and employee-data administration.
- Experience supporting benefits, compensation, payroll processes, and employee lifecycle transactions.
- Comfortable coaching supervisors and managers through sensitive employee situations involving leave, accommodations, attendance, performance, and policy interpretation.
- Strong judgment, confidentiality, documentation, organization, and communication skills.
- Ability to manage competing priorities and work independently in a fast-paced plant environment.
- Intermediate proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
- Valid driver’s license and ability to travel between work locations as needed.
Highly Relevant Industry Experience
Food & Beverage Manufacturing | Food Ingredients | Agricultural Processing | CPG | Manufacturing | Production Operations | Warehousing & Distribution | Industrial Operations
Experience supporting a 24/7 or multi-shift hourly workforce, complex leave administration, high-volume employee relations, safety-sensitive operations, workers’ compensation, return-to-work programs, high-volume recruiting, or seasonal workforce fluctuations is particularly valuable.
Equal Opportunity Employer
We are an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.