Senior Legal Counsel, Labor and Employment, US

JOIN OUR TEAM 

Our mission is simple: we make journeys easier and more enjoyable for our customers. We want to lift their spirits by delivering little boosts along the way.  We care about our people and our communities, and we look for ways to uplift people first. Wherever your journey’s going, we can help you get there.  

Senior Legal Counsel, Labor and Employment, US

Department: Legal

Place: Charlotte, North Carolina, Tempe, Arizona, or San Antonio, Texas

Type of Employment: Permanent; Full-time

THE ROLE 

Reporting to the Director, Labor & Employment, USA, within our Legal team, the Sr. Legal Counsel, Labor and Employment, US will provide the organization and its subsidiaries with assistance regarding labor and employment transactional, litigation, and compliance matters across the country.  This position also will work closely with our Global Human Resources and Business Unit Human Resources teams, as well as other members of the legal team and business partners, advising at all levels of the organization.  The ideal candidate is proactive, self-motivated, organized, detail oriented, and committed to assisting us meet all of the organization’s labor and employment transactional, litigation and compliance needs.  

WHAT YOU’LL DO 

Here are just a few ways that you’ll help make journeys better:  

• On a daily basis, provide legal advice and counseling on a wide range of employment law issues and legal support to the business unit and operations HR teams. Support ranges from explaining human resource fundamentals to HR employees to providing detailed analysis of legal risk of proposed actions or inactions.
• On a routine basis, provide tactical and strategic legal advice and counseling to HR leadership, including advice on handling performance or conduct concerns of high-level employees, employment law implications of operational decisions, ensuring compliance with unique state and local laws, and proactively addressing potential legal risk.
• Review and provide guidance on HR or employment related contracts and agreements to ensure that vendors and partners are required to comply with relevant employment law and Circle K requirements, compliance with Circle K’s internal contract requirements, and that internal partners understand the terms of the contract.
• Draft, review, and provide advice on a host of employee agreements, including severance and separation agreements, offer letters, and accommodation agreements.
• Partner with business units and HR teams to internally handle employment law claims, including demand letters, administrative charges, and administrative investigations by advising on investigating the claims, documenting findings, and developing responsive documents. When appropriate, develop strategies to resolve the claim through settlement.
• Retain and manage outside counsel for lawsuits and employment law claims that business units and HR teams are unable to handle internally. Ensure that outside counsel handles employment litigation matters in compliance with the outside counsel guidelines, adheres to approved budgets, and focuses on achieving the best outcome for Circle K.
• Identify gaps and opportunities in HR operations and processes to notify HR teams and leadership, develop solutions to ensure legal compliance, and define the legal risk if gaps are not addressed and ensure leadership is aware of the risk.
• Provide legal guidance to HR and operations on business reorganizations, reductions in force, and outsourcing employees and teams to vendors. Focus on reducing legal risk by ensuring proper selection procedures are followed, analyzing selection criteria and selected employees to ensure they meet with legal requirements, advising on communication strategies, and drafting or reviewing appropriate agreements and exhibits.
• Provide legal guidance on transactions, acquisitions, and divestitures, with a focus on identifying legal issues and risk with the target’s employment policies, documents, and practices; ensuring HR and transaction team understands the potential cost of employee agreements, separation policies, and other employment policies triggered by a transaction; identifying material legal risk of employment claims and lawsuits; and reviewing employment related language to agreements. Post closing, provide guidance on how to integrate or offboard employees, draft employment related documents, and advise on compliance with the requirements of the agreement.
• Work with the Legal Labor and Employment team to develop and deploy training on a regular basis to Human Resources employees and management level employees on a range of labor and employment issues.
• Review and provide support on updating employment policies and procedures across the enterprise and keep them current/compliant (e.g., employment policies and procedures, Severance Agreements, disciplinary and investigation procedures, associate handbooks, etc.).
• Assist the REAL BRGs by providing legal guidance about proposed actions, determining global implications of proposals, identifying potential changes to the law that may affect Culture & Community programs, and participating in programs.
• Collaborate with Legal team members on matters that have labor and employment and non-labor and employment legal issues to advise the relevant business units, develop strategies to address legal risk, and identify and manage outside counsel.
• Provide guidance and advice to Legal Counsel, Labor and Employment, US, and Paralegal, Labor and Employment, US.
• Provide legal guidance to Head of Global HSE and business unit HR and HSE members on compliance with state and federal Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) laws and regulations. Ensure that Head of Global HSE is updated on changes to the law and state level laws that fall under the HSE authority, including workplace violence. Work with Head of Global HSE and key partners to develop and implement legally required policies and trainings.  
• Advise the Head of Global HSE and business units on how to handle OSHA investigations and complaints. Ensure that response to OSHA and state agencies are legally accurate, responsive, and contain necessary information. Identify when claims should be resolved through settlement and negotiate resolution. Obtain and manage outside counsel for complex or significant investigations.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED 

We want you to join our team! Here’s what we’re looking for: 

• JD required from an accredited law school. Bar admission and license to practice law in the U.S., member in good standing.
• Minimum of eight (8) years of experience, specifically in labor and employment law area of practice.
• Prior experience working in a large law firm preferred.
• Experience with employee health and welfare.
• Ability to draft documents and policies in a concise manner for non-lawyers.
• Must have advanced breadth and depth of practical and academic knowledge of federal, state, and municipal labor and employment laws/regulations, with proven working knowledge of issues related to the EEOC, FLSA, FMLA, NLRB, ADEA, ADA, Title VII, WARN, discrimination and equal pay claims.
• Substantial experience with delivering advice and counsel to business clients such as Human Resources.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Self-motivated and able to quickly troubleshoot issues and provide solutions.
• Ability to effectively collaborate in a team environment, take ownership of projects, and demonstrate independence needed to effectively and timely complete projects.
• Extremely organized, strong ability to focus on details, demonstrate accuracy, maintain a high level of confidentiality, and excellent time management skills.
• Adaptable to changing priorities and ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high output environment.
• Ability to travel as needed.

WHY WORK WITH US

Our store and office employment opportunities offer you quick career growth with an international company, plus a dynamic work environment that puts people first. Wherever you are in your journey, we have a place for you.  Here’s some of the exciting perks we offer: 

• Complete benefits packages (medical, dental, etc.);
• Possibility of enrolling in a defined contribution plan with employer contributions or a stock purchase plan;
• Employee discounts in stores and with multiple of our partners;
• Paid time off plan including vacation, sick days and personal days;
• Scholarship program available to the employee and the employee's children;
• Work in a collaborative, dynamic and high performing team;
• Learning opportunities to develop new skills and to evolve professionally in a fast-growing company;         

INTERESTED? You are only a few clicks away from joining an exceptional company! Those interested in this position should apply on our career site.

Couche-Tard places great importance on diversity in the workplace and is committed to the principle of employment equity by encouraging applications from designated groups, i.e.: people with disabilities.

We thank all applicants for their interest in this position; only those selected will be contacted.

Circle K is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
The Company complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA) and all state and local disability laws. Applicants with disabilities may be entitled to a reasonable accommodation under the terms of the ADA and certain state or local laws as long as it does not impose an undue hardship on the Company. Please inform the Company’s Human Resources Representative if you need assistance completing any forms or to otherwise participate in the application process.

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