HR Generalist

About Zep Inc.

Zep Inc. is a leading manufacturer of cleaning solutions for businesses and consumers with operations across the U.S, Canada, and Europe. Our purpose is to make the planet cleaner, safer, and more productive. To fulfill our purpose, we focus on understanding and solving cleaning needs for consumers, as well as business customers across a variety of segments including transportation, industrial, institutional, and food & beverage. We also have a strong presence in the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) segment, where we develop products to help consumers and businesses maintain a clean and safe environment. Our products can be found online and at retail shelves at outlets like Home Depot, Amazon, Lowe’s, Ace Hardware, Grainger, HD Supply, Walmart, and many others. We market our products under well recognized and established brand names, such as Zep®, Enforcer®, Misty®, TimeMist®, TimeWick, and Country Vet®. Zep was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. In 2021, Zep became the official cleaning partner of Atlanta United FC.

Job Description:

Duties and Responsibilities:

Employee Relations & Floor Presence

• Floor Visibility: Spend regular time on the production floor to build trust and maintain open communication with all shift employees.
• Conflict Resolution: Investigate and resolve employee concerns, accountability discussions, disciplinary issues, de-escalate situations calmly and objectively, and policy violations promptly.
• Shift Alignment: Coordinate with shift supervisors to ensure consistent application of company policies and fair treatment.
• Recognition and morale: Lead and administer recognition programs (length of service, special events, committees, etc.)

Talent Acquisition & Onboarding

• Staffing Pipelines: Partner with hiring managers and temporary staffing agencies to recruit for high-volume production roles, staffing all roles, promote internal growth/transfers, and determine organizational structure.
• Onboarding Execution: Deliver comprehensive orientation programs that emphasize safety, quality standards, and benefit and policy overview.

Compliance & Safety

• Regulatory Compliance: Maintain strict adherence to labor laws (e.g., FMLA, ADA, FLSA, OSHA, I-9, etc.).  Ensure compliance with job postings, offers, background checks, and employment eligibility verification process.
• Safety Partnership: Collaborate with the EHS (Environmental, Health, and Safety) team to manage workers’ compensation claims and incident investigation.
• Timekeeping: Provide support as required related to shift-differential pay, attendance tracking, transfers, and payroll processing questions.

Leadership Duties

• Coaching: Guide management on conflict resolution, policy/procedure knowledge, performance management, terminations, disciplinary discussions, and fair policy enforcement.
• Development Training: Facilitate leadership training sessions tailored to frontline manufacturing leads and supervisors.
• Change Management: Lead communication strategies for shifts, structural realignments, or new policy rollouts.

HR Operations Duties

• HRIS Administration: Maintain accurate employee records, promotions, shift transfers, and separations in the HR System (Workday).
• Benefits Support: Assist employees with health insurance enrollment portal, 401(k), voluntary benefits, leave of absences, and wellness initiatives.
• Compensation: Administer compensation programs, perform market benchmarking, evaluate promotional adjustments, conduct equity audits, and coordinate merit increase cycle.
• Independent judgment and autonomy: Operate effectively without daily oversight; knows when to act and when to escalate.
• Manufacturing Literacy: Understand plant operational metrics, safety protocols, and the impact of headcount on production lines.
• Confidentiality: Handle matters of confidentiality and/or sensitivity appropriately.
• Perform other duties as necessary.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field required; or equivalent.  HR certification preferred.
• 3+ years of HR experience in an industrial manufacturing or distribution center environment.
• Demonstrated experience in employee relations and conducting workplace investigations.
• History of supporting continuous operations, including off-shift operation schedules.  Flexibility to support working hours as needed.
• Proficiency in managing personnel data within platforms like Workday, ADP, or SAP.
• Strong working knowledge of FMLA, ADA, FLSA, and other federal and state specific labor laws and regulations.
• Bilingual capability (Spanish/English) preferred.
• Experience with the I-9 E-Verify process preferred.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal, negotiation, and conflict resolution skills.
• Excellent time management skills with a proven ability to meet deadlines.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to act with integrity, professionalism, and confidentiality.
• Ability to travel as needed.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Word) or related software.

Our Values

At Zep, we have developed a set of values focused on bringing even greater cohesion to our workplace. As part of this plan, we introduced a values framework called S.P.E.E.D. to align with our purpose of making the planet cleaner, safer, and more productive.

• Stewardship: We continuously improve the safety of our people and products, and we protect the planet by innovating solutions to reduce our environmental impact.

• Passion for Problem Solving: We listen to our customers and actively work to find solutions for unique situations. We think creatively to innovate and seize opportunities that will drive growth and make all our customers’ and consumers’ lives better.

• Empowerment: We encourage and lead our people to be accountable by equipping them to make decisions and own the outcome

• Expertise: We create innovative solutions and partnerships that are relevant to service our communities and customers.

• Doing the Right Thing: We expect our people to understand ethical boundaries and be inclusive of other backgrounds, ideas, and perspectives. Demonstrating honesty, respect and integrity in all actions is always expected.

Zep Inc. is an organization that is committed to diversity within its workforce and encourages all interested candidates, including women, minorities, & former military personnel to apply.  It is the policy of Zep Inc. that all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation.

As an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer, Zep Inc. provides full employment opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to race, creed, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, marital status, ancestry, or veteran status or any other distinction outlined in all applicable federal, state, and local laws.