Benefits Administrator

Position Summary:

Assists in the administration of the health and welfare benefit programs including but not limited to Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, Life Insurance/ADD, Health Savings Account (HSA), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), Wellness, Retirement plan and Workers’ Compensation.  Assists employees with benefit questions.  Acts as a liaison between employees and vendors to ensure proper delivery of benefits and problem resolution.   Assists with the Leaves of Absences (LOA) process including FMLA, CFRA, PDL, WC, personal and intermittent leaves.   Audits wellness program participation.

Essential Functions:

• Assists employees with benefit inquiries by responding to a large volume of emails.
• Provides employees with information and explanation of benefit programs, plans, related costs and applicable State and Federal laws and regulations.
• Collaborates with the Benefits team, on Open Enrollment planning and execution.
• Teams up with university staff on communication notices sent to employees as it relates to benefits to ensure compliance with applicable Federal and State regulations.
• Assists in the administration of LOA’s by providing employees with the required State and Federal documents, eligibility requirements, leave entitlements and the University's LOA policies. Communicates with employees while on a LOA to ensure employees’ adherence to benefit contributions.  Audits monthly benefit premiums for employees on LOA and sends employees invoices for payment when appropriate.
• Completes state disability and carrier disability forms for employees on LOA in a timely manner.
• Assists Benefits Manager with the administration of COVID policy and procedures.
• Creates ad-hoc payroll and benefit deduction code change reports for implementation within the HR and Benefits Administration Systems.
• Assists in establishing, maintaining, and documenting insurance billing and reconciliation policies/procedures.
• Completes monthly reconciliation and processing of benefit carrier invoices timely and accurately. Researches and resolves invoice and reconciliation discrepancies. Provides feedback to Finance and/or carriers on invoicing discrepancies.  Clearly communicates and documents root cause of discrepancies and makes any necessary process improvements needed to ensure future efficiency and accuracy.
• Presents benefit summary/enrollment information process at New Employee Orientation (NEO). Communicated enrollment eligibility with new hires weekly.

Essential Functions (Cont’d):

• Audits Benefits and Payroll records as needed to ensure employee deductions and invoice information to third-party carriers are correct.
• Completes cross-training with other HR staff members as delegated by manager to substitute during absences.
• Administers the wellness program and wellness credits by providing employees with communication materials and auditing employee participation quarterly.
• Other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities: N/A

Requirements:

Education & Experience:

• Associate degree in Business Administration, Human Resources, or related field; Bachelor’s degree, preferred; and, four (4) years’ relevant experience in human resources; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
  • Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS) or Certified Benefits Professional Certification (CBP), preferred.

Competencies/Technical/Functional Skills:

• Ability to participate as an active team member of the team and organization and work toward a common goal. Ability to be proactive and solution-oriented that works well in a team environment.
• Accepts personal accountability, proactively seeks resolution for personal limitations head-on; and supports honesty and respect towards others, the company and oneself.
• Actively seeks to influence, build effective relationships, and gain alignment with peers, functional partners and/or external partners to accomplish business objectives.
• Develops new insights into situations; questions conventional approaches; encourages new ideas and innovations; designs and implements new or cutting-edge programs and processes. Ability to generate and/or recognize imaginative or creative solutions that generate successful outcomes.
• Knowledge of benefit programs and ability to develop procedures and best practices related to HR and Benefit plan administration, and ability to process confidential and sensitive information with discretion.

Competencies/Technical/Functional Skills (continued):

• Knowledge, principles, and practices of Leaves of Absences (LOAs) including FMLA, CFRA, PDL, ADA.

• Intermediate to advanced use of computers and Microsoft Office Suite Applications such as Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook, and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software applications related to Human Resources, Benefit and Payroll Administration.
• Work independently and foster a cooperative spirit within a large and/or small team of diverse cultures, while working in a fast-paced environment with multiple projects, deadlines, and frequently changing priorities.
• Strong customer services skills with ability to provide service in a courteous, prompt, and helpful manner, including handling challenging interactions with tact and composure.
• Ability to use empathetic listening skills, communicate with clarity and maintain an attitude that conveys respect, assistance, honesty, and resourcefulness.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to effectively communicate with a wide range of individual of constituencies in a diverse community.
• Work independently and foster a cooperative spirit within a large and/or small team of diverse cultures, while working in a fast-paced environment with multiple deadlines and frequently changing priorities.