Manager-Employee Welfare and Relations

We are currently recruiting a Manager - Manager-Employee Welfare and Relations to join our - Group Human Resources Team in Dubai.

Scope:

The Manager – Employee Welfare and Relations (EWRT) lead and oversees the full delivery of the EWRT function for the assigned HR hub, ensuring that all employees across the organization receive timely, professional, and consistent welfare and relations support. This role is accountable for managing the end-to-end employee relations process — from query resolution and incident management through to disciplinary proceedings, terminations, and Full and Final settlements — in full compliance with UAE Labour Law and Transguard Group policies.

The Manager is responsible for leading, developing, and holding accountable a team of HR Coordinators and Team Leaders, ensuring that service levels are consistently met and that the team operates with a high standard of professionalism, accuracy, and urgency. This role has direct financial and operational impact on the organization and plays a critical part in protecting Transguard’s reputation, minimizing legal risk, and delivering a fair and supportive experience for all employees.

• Ensure Full and Final settlements are processed and paid to exiting employees accurately and in a timely manner, maintaining financial liability and ensuring legal compliance.
• Ensure all disciplinary decisions, termination approvals, and overstay cases are processed accurately and in a timely manner, directly reducing financial exposure to the organization from delayed or incorrect decisions.
• Monitor and manage the financial implications of policy non-compliance — including overstay penalties, unauthorized absence deductions, and site disciplinary cases — ensuring accurate calculations and timely resolution.
• Support the Head of HR in providing accurate data and reports to facilitate informed financial decision‑making related to employee relations and welfare matters.

Customer:

• Ensure all employee welfare queries and grievances submitted through the ESP system are assigned to the appropriate team members and resolved within defined SLA timelines.
• Manage escalations from Business Units, senior management, and external stakeholders on complex employee relations matters, ensuring clear communication, fair resolution, and adherence to company policies.
• Oversee the handling of all employee grievances — whether raised in person or through the ESP — ensuring they are addressed with professionalism, impartiality, and in line with legal requirements.
• Ensure that all responses to staff welfare and relations queries are accurate, legally sound, and communicated clearly — with a particular focus on document verification, medical cases, and entitlement queries.
• Act as the escalation point for the team on non‑standard or complex cases, providing guidance and ensuring resolution without unnecessary delays.

Process:

• Own and oversee the full disciplinary process from initiation through to closure — ensuring all cases are investigated thoroughly, decisions are legally compliant, and outcomes are documented and updated in Oracle within defined timeframes.
• Manage the termination process end‑to‑end, including reviewing and getting approval for termination decisions, ensuring all resignations and approved terminations are processed accurately in Oracle with the relevant documentation within the specified timeframe.
• Ensure all Incident Reports (IRs) have an investigator assigned and are investigated, actioned, and closed within defined SLA timelines.
• Ensure leave requests are approved or rejected within defined SLA timelines, maintaining payroll accuracy and supporting workforce planning across Business Units.
• Conduct regular quality reviews using the Power BI dashboard to monitor team performance against KPIs, identify trends, and drive corrective actions where SLAs are at risk.
• Ensure monthly one‑on‑one reports are submitted by the team in a timely manner.
• Ensure standard approved letters, templates, and documentation are consistently used across the team and are kept up to date in line with policy and legal requirements.
• Proactively identify inefficiencies or recurring gaps in the EWRT function — whether in process, documentation, or team capability — and propose and implement practical improvements that reduce errors, improve turnaround times, and enhance the employee experience.
• Stay current with UAE Labour Law developments and regulatory changes, assessing the impact on existing policies and processes and working with the Head of HR to update procedures accordingly before issues arise.
• Lead the development and continuous improvement of EWRT SOPs, ensuring they remain accurate, accessible, and consistently applied across the team.
• Use data from the Power BI dashboard and ESP system to identify patterns — such as recurring query types, high‑volume incident periods, or settlement delays — and translate those insights into process or training interventions.

Selection Criteria

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Demonstrable knowledge of UAE Labour Law and its amendments.
• Minimum of 2 years’ direct people management experience, leading a team of four or more HR professionals.
• Strong operational proficiency across the Microsoft Office Suite and MI applications is essential, with solid experience in roles involving high volumes of data.
• MS Office – Advanced
• Power BI – Basic
• SharePoint – Advanced
• Advanced English communication skills, both written and spoken (EPT Level 4).
• Strong systems analysis skills, with the ability to quickly understand databases, systems, and processes, identify opportunities for improvement, and maximize the use of available information to drive efficiencies.