Michelle Castro

- Manages the Human Resources and Administrative functions of UAE and Iraq business units

- Develops the entire HR strategic plans, Company policies, and practices

- Partners with the Management team to execute Organizational Development, and assesses and anticipates HR-related needs

- Researches and analyzes trends in Compensation & Benefits, and proposes competitive-based incentive programs

- Leads the end-to-end Talent Acquisition process, including collaborating with Department Heads to determine skills and competencies required for manpower planning

- Creates Learning & Development programs to provide internal development opportunities for employees

- Initiates and determines capabilities of HRMS via Odoo from integration to end user experience while preparing master lists such as Personnel Records, Leave Accruals, Applicant Tracker, among others for integration

- Allocates cost-effective HR and office budgets

- Supervises On-boarding, Off-boarding and Labor Relations processes with Group PRO

- Administers end-to-end payroll for UAE and Iraq employees

- Maintains compliance with local employment laws and regulations, aligns policies, and recommends best practices

- Office and Warehouse management, including processes of licenses, contracts, insurances, utilities, etc.

- Controls systems/platforms’ front-end and back-end accesses to employees and developers

- Manages all Human Resources facets including maintaining knowledge of current employment laws with a team of five (5)

- Develops and maintains series of HR Master Lists and hard copies such as Employees Personal and Professional Records, Disciplinary Memos, Annual Leave Tracker, Airfare Ticket Allowance, Recruitment and On-boarding Tracking System

- Leads Recruitment and Selection process by conducting job adverts, testing evaluation, series of interviews, and background checks

- Supervises On-boarding, Off-boarding and Labor Relations process of new, renewal and cancellation of Labour Contracts, Residency Visa, Emirates ID, Occupational Health Cards (OHC), etc.

- Handles in negotiating, closing and maintaining insurance contracts to ensure suppliers/vendors and/or similar agreements are being met to satisfy the support service agreements

- Applies new, modification and cancellation of employee Medical, Workmen Compensation and Group Life insurances

- Third party administrations of employee Training and Seminar (Basic Food Hygiene, Person-In-Charge, Fire and Safety, First Aid, etc.) certifications in partial relation to Food Watch and other Municipality approvals

- Handles Employee Relations, which include but not limited to, employee disputes and grievances, disciplinary memos, in-house training, occupational and safety, resignations, terminations, and non-renewals

- Integrates Applicant Tracking System (ATS), full employee records, accrued salaries and benefits via HR and Payroll system (GP) and Company roster

- Administers and analyzes 500+ employees' overall payroll computation with WPS procedures

- Establishes and controls final settlement computations

- Coordinates with Company PROs and upkeeps all new, existing and closed shops, headquarters, production facilities, warehouses and logistics in order to properly coordinate and track all Government-mandated and relevant business requirements such as motor fleet documentations, Licenses, Production and Warehouse permits, Trade Name Reservations and/or Initial Approval Certificates, Shop Electricity and Water accounts (DEWA, SEWA, ADDC, AADC, FEWA)

- Processes Additional Permits required for the shop such as Signboard, Outside Seating, Kiosk, Merchandising, Marketing and Promotions, etc.

- Applies new, modification and cancellation of Annual Maintenance Contracts such as Pest Control, Grease Trap, Fire Alarm and System, CCTV, and all other general shop maintenance, and General Insurances such as Property All Risks, Third Party Liability, Money, Product Liability, Business Interruptions, Plate Glass, etc.

- Maintains relationship with Landlords pertaining to new, renewal and cancellation of Lease Agreements and Lease Certifications (Ejari, Tawtheeq, Tasjeel, Tasdeeq, Tenancy Contract) and other documents as needed from both ends

- Coordinates with Fit-Out and Maintenance Companies to ensure property requirements are being met on-time and on-budget

- Creates and redesigns Business Letters and Company forms

- Conceptualizes and implements Company policies and Job Descriptions in accordance to the UAE Federal Law

- Leads Talent Acquisition process by conducting job adverts, series of interviews, and background checks

- Coordinates with the Company PRO in processing residence visa-related applications for new, existing and cancelled employees

- Supervises staff accommodations and fleet management

- Collaborates with the Finance Manager in generating final attendance report for payroll preparation and analysis

- Designs incentive programs such as monthly award for Best Accommodation, Employee of the Month, and Birthday Leave

- Structures a Master Employee List with Vacation Leave and unused Public Holiday tracking system

- Launches an Admin Master List for outlets and rented residential units

- Handles End-to-End Recruitment process by conducting job adverts, testing evaluation, series of interviews, and background checks

- Organizes training calendar for batches of newly hires and training and development of current associates

- Increases employee promotions by hiring via in-house for junior to mid-level positions

- Inaugurates an On-The-Job Training Program to minimize workload of employees at no cost

- Finalizes the HR Policy with Organizational Structuring

- Completes broad-spectrum Employment Contracts and Non-Disclosure Agreement that caters to all Rank & File and Mid-Level positions

- Re-engineers Compensation and Benefits by Leveling Pay Scale scheme resourced in performance Appraisals

- Conducts an Employee Retention and On-boarding Programs with Company Induction to new and existing employees

- Handles Employee Relations, which include but not limited to, employee disputes and grievances, disciplinary memos, in-house training, occupational and safety, resignations and terminations

- Commences excellent departmental records and collaborates with other Departments to obtain ISO 9001 Certification

- Facilitates Company inventory

- Oversees all aspects of large team building events

- Organizes Timekeeping analysis in preparation to bi-monthly payroll

- Reviews and audits overall payroll summary and Company budget segregation generated by Accountant Retainer

- Reconciles discrepancies and preparing accurate reports