Welcome to ELR
AxisSynapse ELR is the employee + labor relations module. It covers the high-stakes workplace decisions that affect collective rights, employment status, and the workspace's legal posture: grievances, fact-finding investigations, progressive discipline, collective-bargaining sessions, NLRB charges, and reductions in force. The module exists so that, when a union, an arbitrator, the NLRB, or a court asks for the record, the workspace has one authoritative file per matter — not a stack of email threads.
TL;DR — Open ELR → Active matters to see every open grievance, investigation, RIF, and bargaining round. Each matter has a file with parties, timeline, evidence, and decisions. ELR is the system of record for anything that touches collective rights or due-process discipline.
What the module covers
| Field | What it does | Accepted values / default |
|---|---|---|
| Grievances | Union or non-union complaints progressing through workspace + CBA steps. | Covered in [Grievances](/elr/grievances). |
| Investigations | Fact-finding inquiries — misconduct, policy violation, safety, threat assessment. | Covered in [Investigations](/elr/investigations). |
| NLRB charges + collective bargaining | Unfair-labor-practice charges and CBA bargaining-table tracking. | Covered in [NLRB and bargaining](/elr/nlrb-and-bargaining). |
| Reductions in force | Layoffs, restructurings, plant closures with WARN-Act-grade documentation. | Covered in [Reductions in force](/elr/reductions-in-force). |
| Discipline + corrective action | Progressive discipline ladders, PIPs, separations. | Threaded through Investigations and Grievances; no standalone surface. |
The three audiences
| Field | What it does | Accepted values / default |
|---|---|---|
| Employee | Files a grievance, responds to a discipline notice, signs a release. | Self-service surfaces only — never sees other parties' files. |
| HR + labor-relations staff | Owns every matter end-to-end. | Full ELR UI; the default landing surface for the role. |
| Auditor | Read-only access to closed matters for compliance evidence. | Sees the file ledger and final outcome — never draft notes or ongoing investigation tactics. |
Where to start
- New to the module? Start with Grievances — it shows the workspace + CBA progression that most matters follow.
- Running an investigation? Investigations.
- Responding to an NLRB charge? NLRB and bargaining.
- Planning a reduction in force? Reductions in force.
How ELR pairs with other modules
- A substantiated EEO finding that involves a coworker often routes to ELR for the discipline-side investigation. See EEO case management for the upstream path.
- Discipline that results in termination flows back to HCM for employee lifecycle.
- A RIF that affects 50+ workers triggers WARN-Act timing — see the RIF guide.
- An NLRB charge travels alongside the regular case file but with its own external-charge timeline, similar to how an EEO case pairs with an EEOC charge.
Privacy and access
ELR matters often name multiple parties and may contain allegations that are not yet proven. Default scoping is need-to-know.
- Witness statements are visible only to the assigned ELR investigator and the matter lead.
- Discipline records are visible to the affected employee, their manager (outcomes only — not draft deliberations), and HR.
- CBA bargaining notes are visible only to the bargaining team and the workspace's labor counsel.
- Cross-matter pattern search requires logged justification; every cross-matter touchpoint is recorded.
Common gotchas
- "A manager keeps trying to act outside the policy." Discipline must follow the workspace's progressive ladder — skipping a step becomes a grievance the workspace will lose. Re-direct the manager through ELR.
- "The union steward wants to be in every meeting." Investigatory meetings that may lead to discipline trigger Weingarten rights — the union representative is the employee's right, not optional. See the Investigations page.
- "A confidential investigation leaked." Investigation confidentiality is enforced through scoping; leaks are usually human channel, not system. Audit access to the file (every read is logged) to identify the leak path.
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