Manager, Leave Administration & Workers' Compensation

Job Description

The Leave Administration & Workers' Compensation Manager administers Breakthru's enterprise leave of absence process and manages day-to-day coordination of the company's workers' compensation and ADA/accommodation processes. The role reports to the VP, Total Rewards.

Job Responsibilities

• Administer and oversee the company’s leave of absence processes, including FMLA, state and local leave laws, medical leave, parental leave, disability-related leaves, personal leaves, military leave, and other company-sponsored leave programs.
• Serve as the primary resource for leave process questions, escalations, vendor issues, and general guidance for HR partners, managers, employees, Payroll, Benefits, Legal, and leadership.
• Ensure leave processes are administered consistently, accurately, and in compliance with applicable federal, state, local, contractual, and company policy requirements.
• Monitor leave process from initiation to return to work, including eligibility review, documentation, status tracking, communication, pay coordination, benefit continuation, employee status updates, and case closure.
• Partner with HR Business Partners, Benefits, Payroll, Legal, and business leaders on complex leave situations, including overlapping leave protections, intermittent leave, return-to-work restrictions, attendance or performance considerations, and accommodation-related matters.
• Provide guidance on leave implications under union contracts, company policies, and applicable laws.

Vendor Partnership And Experience Improvement

• Cook up with third-party leave administrators, disability carriers, payroll providers, insurance carriers, and other vendors to support timely, accurate, and consistent case handling.
• Engage vendors to problem solve service issues, improve responsiveness, clarify handoffs, and strengthen the employee and manager experience.
• Track recurring vendor or process concerns and recommend practical improvements to reduce avoidable escalations and manual follow-up.

Workers’ Compensation And Return-to-Work Coordination

• Support workers’ compensation process administration in partnership with HR, Safety, Payroll, Benefits, Risk Management, insurance carriers, third-party administrators, and business leaders.
• Monitor workers’ compensation claims and support timely reporting, documentation, investigation, follow-up, escalation, and resolution.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to help ensure claims are managed consistently and in alignment with company policy, state requirements, applicable contractual requirements, and insurance carrier expectations.
• Support return-to-work coordination, modified duty considerations, work restrictions, wage replacement, pay continuation, benefit deductions, payroll coding, and related communications.
• Participate in workers’ compensation claim review meetings, broker meetings, captive insurance discussions, and other related governance forums to support claims oversight, trend review, risk mitigation, and alignment across internal and external stakeholders.
• Identify trends or recurring issues in workers’ compensation activity and partner with HR, Safety, Operations, Risk Management, and vendors on preventive actions and process improvements.
• Maintain accurate records and support internal reporting, audits, renewals, and compliance.

ADA and Accommodation Process Support

• Support accommodation-related process coordination in partnership with HRBPs, Legal, Benefits, Payroll, Safety, managers, employees, and external vendors as appropriate.
• Help ensure accommodation matters are escalated appropriately and handled through a consistent, compliant, and well-documented process.
• Partner with HRBPs and Legal on complex matters involving leave extensions, return-to-work restrictions, modified duty, and overlapping leave or workers’ compensation situations.

Process Improvement, Governance and Reporting

• Evaluate current leave, workers’ compensation, and accommodation-related processes to identify opportunities for greater consistency, clarity, compliance, efficiency, and employee experience improvement.
• Recommend standardized workflows, escalation paths, documentation practices, communication protocols, role clarity, manager guidance, employee-facing materials, HRBP resources, and training materials.
• Track leave and workers’ compensation metrics, trends, case volume, recurring issues, compliance risks, vendor performance, and operational concerns to support ongoing program improvement.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business, or related field preferred (or equivalent experience).
• 8+ years of HR experience, including deep expertise managing multi-state leave programs and complex case administration, including at least 5 years’ experience overseeing end-to-end leave programs, including policy interpretation, compliance, and vendor management.
• Strong working knowledge of FMLA, ADA, PWFA, workers’ compensation, disability, and state/local leave laws.
• Demonstrated ability to independently interpret and apply federal, state, and local regulations.
• Experience partnering with third-party vendors (e.g., leave administrators, disability and workers’ compensation carriers, payroll providers).
• Familiarity with accommodation (ADA) processes and return-to-work coordination.
• Strong understanding of how leave, accommodations, workers’ compensation, payroll, benefits, and HR operations intersect.
• Strong analytical, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency with HRIS, leave administration systems, payroll platforms, and reporting tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in a union environment.
• Experience with Workday or similar HRIS system.