Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP)

The Organization: Wholesome Kids Catering is a leading childcare catering company dedicated to Nourishing Lives by providing healthy, delicious, and child-friendly meals and snacks to childcare centres and schools across Ontario. Our talented and committed team is passionate about delivering exceptional food and service experiences that delight our customers every day. Through our Eat Grow Thrive® philosophy, we combine excellent nutrition with flavours and foods that children love, helping support healthy growth and development. As a growing organization, we are committed to becoming the dominant brand in our industry by building trusted partnerships, continuously improving, and living our values every day. We believe in acting with integrity, raising the bar, nurturing growth, owning our commitments, and working better together to create exceptional experiences for our customers, colleagues, and communities. The Role: The HR Business Partner is an experienced, hands-on HR professional who serves as an operational HR Business Partner, providing day-to-day people support to leaders and employees across Wholesome Kids Catering. The role focuses on employee relations, performance and attendance management, disability and leave management, Health & Safety people support, WSIB claim coordination, return-to-work planning, leader coaching, policy application, workplace investigations, employee experience and HR compliance. Working closely with managers and supervisors, the HR Business Partner proactively identifies and resolves people-related matters while ensuring consistent application of HR practices, policies and employment legislation. The role operates with a high degree of independence on routine and moderately complex employee matters while maintaining close alignment with the Director, Human Resources on significant employee relations matters, disciplinary decisions, terminations, sensitive investigations, accommodations and matters presenting organizational or legal risk. Success: The successful HR Business Partner will:

• Become a trusted day-to-day HR partner to managers and supervisors.
• Build strong relationships with employees and leaders while maintaining appropriate HR objectivity.
• Proactively identify and address employee relations and workplace issues before they escalate.
• Ensure employee relations, attendance, performance management and disciplinary practices are handled consistently and appropriately.
• Coach leaders to independently manage their teams while providing HR guidance and support.
• Exercise sound judgment independently managing employee matters while appropriately escalating higher-risk or sensitive matters to the HR Director.
• Maintain strong compliance with Ontario employment legislation and WKC policies.
• Support timely and effective management of workplace injury cases, including WSIB reporting, Functional Abilities Forms (FAFs), modified work and return-to-work plans.
• Strengthen accountability, employee experience and consistent people-management practices across the organization. Key Responsibilities: HR Business Partnership & Leader Support
• Serve as the primary day-to-day HR partner for assigned leaders and departments.
• Build strong working relationships with managers, supervisors and employees.
• Provide practical HR guidance on employee relations, performance, attendance, conduct, workplace concerns and policy application.
• Participate in operational meetings where people-related HR support is required.
• Maintain regular visibility within the operation and understand emerging employee and workplace issues.
• Coach leaders on handling employee matters effectively, consistently and respectfully.
• Identify recurring people issues and bring themes, risks and recommendations to the HR Director.
• Ensure significant people decisions remain aligned with the HR Director.
• Work collaboratively with the other HR Team members to ensure effective coordination and execution of HR activities, while maintaining clear functional ownership and accountability. Employee Relations
• Lead day-to-day employee relations matters, including workplace concerns, conflict resolution, conduct and performance issues.
• Conduct workplace investigations, including interviews, documentation, findings and recommendations.
• Prepare disciplinary documentation, including written warnings, final warnings and Performance Improvement Plans.
• Support termination processes and prepare documentation following approval and alignment with the HR Director.
• Provide managers with coaching before and following difficult employee conversations.
• Maintain thorough, confidential and defensible employee relations documentation.
• Identify patterns or recurring concerns and proactively recommend corrective actions.
• Independently manage routine and moderately complex employee relations matters, escalating significant disciplinary, termination, accommodation, investigation or legal-risk matters to the HR Director. Performance Management & Leader Coaching
• Partner with managers to address performance concerns early and consistently.
• Coach leaders on setting clear expectations, providing feedback and documenting performance concerns.
• Guide managers through progressive performance and disciplinary processes.
• Support the development and monitoring of Performance Improvement Plans.
• Facilitate difficult conversations where HR involvement is appropriate.
• Coach and enable managers to take appropriate ownership of employee performance and people-management responsibilities.
• Reinforce consistent leadership practices and WKC values. Attendance, Leaves & Accommodation
• Partner with leaders on attendance management, absenteeism and recurring attendance concerns.
• Review attendance patterns and support appropriate coaching or corrective action.
• Manage employee leaves, disability cases and return-to-work processes, including coordination of medical/functional abilities information and modified work plans.
• Coordinate workplace accommodation processes in consultation with employees, leaders and appropriate external partners.
• Ensure medical and accommodation information is handled confidentially.
• Escalate complex accommodation, disability or human-rights-related matters to the HR Director.
• Maintain appropriate documentation and follow-up throughout leave and accommodation processes. Policy, Compliance & Workplace Practices
• Interpret and apply HR policies consistently across the organization.
• Advise managers and employees on HR policies and employment practices.
• Support implementation of new or revised HR policies.
• Ensure employee relations practices comply with the ESA, Ontario Human Rights Code, OHSA and other applicable employment legislation.
• Identify compliance gaps or inconsistent practices and raise them with the HR Director.
• Support HR audits and corrective actions related to people practices.
• Maintain accurate and confidential employee relations documentation. Employee Experience, Engagement & Culture
• Maintain regular employee presence and visibility across departments and shifts.
• Act as an approachable HR resource for employee workplace concerns.
• Support resolution of employee concerns at the appropriate level.
• Reinforce WKC values and expected workplace behaviours.
• Partner with leaders to improve accountability, communication and employee experience.
• Support employee engagement and retention initiatives from a people-partnership perspective.
• Identify employee sentiment and emerging workplace themes and share relevant insights with the HR Director.
• Support recognition and culture initiatives where HR partnership is required. Health & Safety Support
• Partner with Operations, supervisors and Health & Safety stakeholders to support a safe workplace and ensure timely follow-up on workplace incidents, injuries and employee-relate