Benefits Specialist

Responsibilities

• Administers employee benefits including eligibility, elections, qualified life events and premium deductions ensuring they follow plan design.
• Serves as liaison to third party administrators to research and resolve employee issues.
• Direct contact for employee benefit questions and responds timely to all phone and email inquiries.
• Continually develops knowledge base of benefit FAQs.
• Ensures file feeds are reviewed weekly and any issues are addressed from employer to vendor portals for all employee benefit enrollments/changes.
• Conducts benefits orientation and assists in the planning and administering of open enrollment process and related events, such as communications and social media strategies.
• Ensures compliance with all benefits policies and plan documents as well as benefits related federal and state regulations such as HIPAA, COBRA, etc.
• Helps conduct research and analysis of industry trends, employee surveys, and workplace best practices in order to design benefits packages that are competitive.
• Participates in the selection, design and implementation of benefit programs and providers.
• Develops benefits reports and spreadsheets related to contributions and enrollments and assists with annual reporting and audits including 401(k) and flexible spending compliance testing, annual plan audit and Form 5500 filings.
• Captures and coordinates health and wellness events such as annual flu shots, biometric screenings, health fairs, education seminars, etc.
• Act as back-up for the Leave Administrator to manage leave of absence and disability programs.
• Administers global life insurance policy and Canadian medical, dental, and vision policy.
• Ensures timely processing of National Medical Support Notices.
• Prepares miscellaneous employee benefit letters.

Requirements

• Associate or Bachelor’s degree preferably in Human Resources
• Minimum 7 years’ experience selecting, implementing, and administering health and welfare plans and programs including medical, dental, vision, wellness, disability, life, voluntary benefits and 401(k)
• Experience managing employee leave cases including, FMLA, STD, ADA, Military, etc.
• Knowledge of benefit regulations such as HIPAA, ERISA, FMLA, ADA and COBRA
• Proficient with Microsoft Office including utilization of v-lookups, pivot tables, etc. in Excel
• Proficient with human resource and benefit systems: Oracle, ADP, Kronos a plus
• Ability to learn new technologies and possess the technical aptitude required to understand flow of data
• Demonstrated ability to work under strict time constraints and to maintain confidentiality
• Skilled in project coordination/management including organization, prioritization, and attention to detail
• Extended work hours may be required as dictated by business needs and occasional travel to multiple facilities