Human Resource Generalist in St. Petersburg, Florida at GA Foods

The Human Resources Generalist supports day-to-day human resources operations with a primary focus on employee relations, benefits administration, leave management, and employee lifecycle support. This role serves as a key resource for employees and managers, helping address workplace concerns, administer benefit programs, coordinate leaves of absence, and ensure HR processes are handled consistently and in accordance with Company policy and applicable employment requirements.

The Human Resources Generalist works closely with HR leadership, Payroll, managers, employees, and benefit and leave vendors to support a positive employee experience, accurate administration, and timely resolution of employee matters in a fast-paced, multi-state environment.

• Serve as a primary point of contact for employees and managers regarding workplace concerns, policies, procedures, attendance, performance, and other employee relations matters.
• Provide guidance on routine employee relations issues and escalate complex, sensitive, or high-risk matters to HR leadership as appropriate.
• Support and participate in workplace investigations, including gathering documentation, conducting or assisting with interviews, preparing timelines, and maintaining investigation records.
• Support managers with corrective action, performance management, attendance issues, and policy interpretation to promote consistent and appropriate application of Company practices.
• Prepare and maintain employee relations documentation, including coaching records, corrective actions, investigation materials, and related correspondence.
• Track employee relations matters and follow up with employees and managers to help ensure timely resolution and appropriate documentation.
• Identify recurring employee relations trends and escalate potential workplace, policy, or management concerns to HR leadership.
• Maintain confidentiality and exercise sound judgment when handling sensitive employee matters.

• Serve as a primary resource for employees regarding benefit eligibility, enrollment, coverage, deductions, qualifying life events, and general benefit questions.
• Support administration of medical, dental, vision, life, disability, retirement, and other employee benefit programs.
• Coordinate with benefit carriers, brokers, Payroll, and third-party administrators to research and resolve employee enrollment, eligibility, coverage, and deduction issues.
• Process and review benefit enrollments, changes, and terminations to help ensure accuracy and timely administration.
• Support new hire benefits enrollment, annual open enrollment, and employee benefits communications.
• Assist employees with benefit-related questions while appropriately directing plan-specific or clinical questions to carriers and plan administrators.
• Audit benefit enrollment and deduction information and coordinate corrections with Payroll and vendors as necessary.
• Support required benefits notices, documentation, and recordkeeping.
• Assist with COBRA administration and other continuation-of-coverage processes in coordination with applicable vendors.

• Coordinate employee leaves of absence, including FMLA, medical leave, parental leave, personal leave, short-term disability, and other applicable leave programs.
• Serve as a liaison between employees, managers, HR leadership, and third-party leave administrators throughout the leave process.
• Track leave dates, documentation requirements, certifications, approvals, extensions, and return-to-work information.
• Maintain timely communication with employees regarding leave status, required documentation, benefit continuation, and return-to-work expectations.
• Support the interactive accommodation process by gathering documentation, coordinating information, and escalating accommodation decisions to HR leadership as appropriate.
• Coordinate return-to-work processes, including review and documentation of work restrictions and fitness-for-duty information.
• Maintain accurate and confidential leave and accommodation records.
• Monitor intermittent leave usage and coordinate with managers and leave administrators to address documentation or attendance-related questions.
• Support compliance with federal, state, and local leave requirements across applicable jurisdictions.

• Support administration of workers' compensation claims, including incident reporting, documentation, employee communication, and coordination with carriers or third-party administrators.
• Track work status, restrictions, medical updates, and return-to-work information associated with occupational injuries.
• Coordinate with managers regarding temporary restrictions and return-to-work processes.
• Maintain accurate workers' compensation records and support required reporting and follow-up.

• Process employee lifecycle transactions within the HRIS, including hires, transfers, promotions, status changes, leaves, and terminations.
• Maintain accurate employee records and personnel files in accordance with Company requirements and applicable record-retention standards.
• Support employee offboarding, including separation documentation, benefits notifications, HRIS updates, and related processes.
• Respond to employee questions and provide guidance on HR policies, procedures, and available resources.

• Maintain accurate employee, benefit, leave, and employee relations information within HR systems and applicable vendor platforms.
• Prepare and maintain reports related to employee relations, leaves, benefits, attendance, turnover, and other HR activity.
• Audit employee records and HR transactions and coordinate corrections with HR, Payroll, managers, and vendors.
• Support compliance with federal, state, and local employment requirements across multiple jurisdictions.
• Maintain required documentation, acknowledgements, certifications, leave records, benefit records, and corrective action documentation.
• Assist with internal audits, benefit audits, compliance reviews, and requests for employee documentation.

• Provide recruiting and onboarding support as needed, including candidate communication, interview coordination, pre-employment requirements, and new hire documentation.
• Support I-9 completion, E-Verify processing, background checks, drug screening, and other onboarding requirements.
• Assist with new hire orientation and transition of employees into ongoing HR and benefit processes.

• 2–4 years of progressive human resources experience, preferably in a Human Resources Generalist or similar role.
• Experience supporting employee relations, benefits administration, and/or leave-of-absence processes.
• Working knowledge of employment practices and HR compliance requirements.
• Familiarity with FMLA, ADA accommodation processes, benefit administration, and employee relations documentation.
• Strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple employee matters and deadlines simultaneously.
• Ability to handle confidential and sensitive information with discretion, professionalism, and sound judgment.
• Proficiency with HRIS systems and Microsoft Office applications.

• Experience administering employee benefits and coordinating with benefit carriers or third-party administrators.
• Experience managing or coordinating FMLA, disability, ADA, workers' compensation, or other leave programs.
• Experience supporting employee relations investigations and corrective action processes.
• Experience working in a multi-state organization.
• Experience supporting hourly employee populations in manufacturing, distribution, transportation, or other operations-driven environments.
• SHRM-CP, PHR, or other recognized human resources certification preferred.