Co-worker relations intern

Who you are

As a person you are passionate about people, their rights and wellbeing. You have engagement and commitment to develop the business and deliver business results by optimising performance through people, mostly on tactical and operational level. You are an ambassador for the IKEA culture and values and enjoy working in a vibrant and changing multi-dimensional environment.
You have general knowledge of Belgian labour legislation and the rights and obligations of co-workers and employers. You are prepared to mediate the relationship between co-workers and employing entities and support in related cases.

Motivated and structured you know how to work independently, take own initiatives and responsibility. You feel comfortable to share ideas and opinions effectively, in verbal and written communication with the ability to influence others. You work in good collaboration with the IKEA Units and the Country People & Culture team (HR). You support specific projects and assignments defined by the Market Area P&C Manager together with the Co-worker Relations Manager.

For this role we believe you need to have a passion for working with co-worker relations topics.
A proven academic background including the (ongoing) study of Law (in particular labour and social law) or Human Resources Management (with legal components) or any other related study is a real asset. You need to have strong communication and interpersonal skills and good command of English and at least one more language spoken in the market, meaning French or Dutch.

In the role as Co-worker Relations intern, you contribute to the overall co-worker relations strategy and follow up together with the organisation upholding our global co-worker relations principles and code of conduct. You create the conditions for an engaging and healthy working environment where co-workers develop and perform. You will work on your own projects as well as participate together with the other specialists in broader ones.

Your responsibilities

• Ensure the relevant global people policies and standards are fully supported across the country and lived up to (e.g. Code of Conduct, co-worker relations principles)
• Establish and foster an ongoing open dialogue with co-workers and other organisations
• Together with your co-specialists secure the implementation of country HR policies and procedures in line with employment law compliance and follow up. For that you will perform research and development work enabling this compliance.
• Protect IKEA as an employer from potential threats by implementing and following a common way of managing labour issues on country level
• Identify, evaluate and monitor actual and potential labour issues evolving internally or externally that could create significant risks for IKEA. If needed you will give legal support and answer questions on any labour law questions.
• Implement and follow up on the IKEA Employment standards and compliance in all units

In this role you will report to the Market Area P&C Manager and have your home base in Zaventem.

About this work area

IKEA is all about people, and our team make sure to bring the best people on board to keep our strong spirit of togetherness. We believe that different experiences and backgrounds collectively make us wiser and stronger, and we ensure that our co-workers bloom into their best selves as they contribute to our business.

If you grow, IKEA grows! Discover together with us the opportunities for your career in an inspiring work environment within an international context. A place where entrepreneurs get the chance to do what they do best. There are a lot of possibilities to grow together! We offer you a non-paid internship at our IKEA HQ in Zaventem, and this from February till June (also shorter internships can be accepted).