Benefits & Leave Specialist, 40 Hours, Days, Hybrid Potential

You Matter Here!

Heywood Healthcare values or employees!  We offer competitive wages, great benefits and generous earned time off.  Come work where you will matter.

Hours:  40 Hours Days, Hybrid Potential

Summary:

The Benefits & Leaves Specialist is responsible for the administration, coordination, and support of the organization’s employee benefits and leave programs. This role serves as a subject-matter resource for employees, leaders, and vendors, ensuring benefits are administered accurately, compliantly, and in alignment with organizational policies, collective bargaining agreements, and regulatory requirements.

Compensation:  $25.05 - $33.05

Essential Functions:

Benefits & Leave Administration

• Administer health, dental, vision, life, disability, retirement, and leave benefit programs.
• Process benefits and leave enrollments, applications, changes, and terminations in HRIS and payroll systems.
• Ensure accurate and timely benefits and leave eligibility, deductions, and reconciliations.
• Support annual open enrollment planning, execution, and employee education.

Employee Support & Communication

• Serve as a primary point of contact for employee benefits and leave inquiries and issue resolution.
• Provide guidance to employees regarding plan provisions, eligibility, claims escalation, and leave coordination
• Prepare benefits and leave communications, guides, and educational materials.

Compliance & Governance

• Works with brokers and vendors to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations, including ACA, ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, IRS, FMLA and PFML, and applicable labor agreements.
• Assist with audits, reporting, and required filings (e.g., ACA reporting, nondiscrimination testing).
• Maintain accurate benefits and leave documentation and personnel records.

Vendor & Broker Coordination

• Liaise with benefits brokers, leave vendors, carriers, and third-party administrators.
• Assist with vendor performance monitoring and issue escalation.
• Support benefit and leave renewals, benchmarking, and plan design initiatives.

Data, Reporting & Analysis

• Perform benefits and leave billing reconciliation and resolve discrepancies.
• Prepare reports related to benefits and leave costs, utilization, eligibility, and participation.
• Support cost-containment and continuous improvement initiatives.

Collaboration & Projects

• Partner with Payroll, Finance, IT, and HR colleagues to ensure integrated processes.
• Support wellness initiatives, employee engagement efforts, and special projects.
• Participate in system upgrades, testing, and process improvement efforts.

Additional Duties

• Attends seminars, professional meetings and educational programs that lead to professional growth.
• Collaborate with HR team members to ensure seamless integration of benefits and leave policies with broader HR strategies.
• Ensures compliance with all federal, state and JCAHO regulations with regard to all processes

Statement of Other Duties:

This document describes the major duties and responsibilities for this job, and is not intended to be a complete list of all tasks and functions. It should be understood, therefore, that employees may be asked to perform job-related duties beyond those explicitly described.

Functional Demands

Physical Requirements:

Exerts up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects.  Frequently reaches (extending hands and arms in any direction), and handles (seizing, holding, grasping, turning, or working with hands).

Organizational Expectations

Behavioral Attributes:

The following behavioral attributes are required: achievement motivation, flexibility, concerns for order, initiative, self-confidence, self-control, customer service orientation, interpersonal effectiveness, teamwork and information seeking.

Minimum Education:

• Bachelor's Degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field preferred.

Minimum Work Experience:

• 2 Years Benefits Administration (or equivalent) experience in HR setting, preferably in Healthcare.

Required Skills:

• Strong understanding of employee benefits, federal and state leaves, and regulations
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to perform multiple tasks with minimal supervision is essential
• Must be able to function professionally in an environment with constant interruptions
• Must have excellent organizational skills and the ability to set priorities.
• Independent judgment and problem-solving skills are required to ensure the completion of tasks.

• Meditech Information System knowledge preferred.