Labor & Employment Paralegal

Sara Lee Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of high-quality, brand-name products for consumers throughout the world. The Corporation has operations in 58 countries and markets branded products in nearly 200 nations. Sara Lee Corporation employs 137,000 people worldwide.



Chicago-based Sara Lee Corporation employs 137,000 people worldwide, operates in 58 countries and markets branded consumer products in nearly 200 nations.  A sampling of our world-famous brands include Sara Lee?, Hillshire Farm?, Chef Pierre?, Douwe Egberts?, and Superior Coffee?.  Sara Lee is proud to be thesecond-largest producer of fresh bread and baked goods, fourth-largest producer of frozen baked goods No. 2 producer of frozen desserts in the United States.

As an integral member of our Legal team, you will:This position assists the Law Departments for Food & Beverage and Foodservice in the area of labor and employment matters, primarily in the areas of employment discrimination charges filed in state and federal agencies and union labor arbitrations.  Primary duties will include preparing position statements and other documents and managing Law Department reporting relating to discrimination charges and labor arbitrations.  Under the supervision of Law Department attorneys, this position will work closely with human resources personnel and outside counsel in meeting the goals of the business units with respect to labor and employment matters. POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES: Prepare position statements responding to employment discrimination charges filed in state and federal agencies.  Includes investigating background facts and interviewing witnesses, drafting the response to the charge, and recommending a course of action to Law Department attorneys.  Work closely with human resources personnel and outside counsel to gather information and documentation for union labor arbitrations. Gather, input and manage data relating to discrimination charges and labor arbitrations on a docketing database system.  Provide periodic reports on the data to business contacts and Law Department attorneys. Assist L&E Attorneys with respect to researching legal issues. Maintain docketing systems for deadlines, litigation files, and various other litigation-related support functions. Monitor invoices from outside attorneys and assist with processing of invoices. Develop a general working knowledge of employment discrimination agency procedures nationwide. Analyze and revise internal procedures, filing, procedure manuals, training manuals, educational manuals, and the like. Handling other matters as assigned by Law Department attorneys

NATURE AND SCOPE: The incumbent must be a responsible, self-reliant, articulate, organized individual with a professional manner in all dealings as he or she handles written and oral communications with officers and personnel of Sara Lee Corporation and operating units, members of the Bar and other professionals. The responsibilities of the position are somewhat complex and involve extensive contacts with corporate personnel on a variety of levels, as well as outside attorneys. The incumbent must be able to recognize issues, frame questions for outside counsel, collect necessary information, and facilitate the resolution of issues. In addition, the incumbent must be able to prioritize a large workload.  The challenges faced by the incumbent involve the labor and employment rights and obligations of the company and thus are of tremendous importance to Sara Lee Corporation.   MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS: Education/Degrees: Undergraduate associates or bachelors degree strongly preferred.Certificates/Licenses:   Paralegal certificate preferredYears of Experience:   At least 5 years of labor and employment work experience strongly preferred.Special Skills: Familiarity with Word, Excel, and other computer database software is required; familiarity with Lexis, Westlaw, labor and employment government websites is strongly preferred .