Leave & Benefits Specialist

Position: Leave & Benefits Specialist

Location: Bellevue, WA

Pay: 75k-110k

Addison Group is seeking a Leave & Benefits Specialist on behalf of our client in Bellevue, WA. This position is responsible for managing the end-to-end leave administration processes, including medical accommodations and return-to-work procedures. The role will work closely with internal teams and third-party vendors to ensure seamless program administration and employee support.

This role will support the full cycle leave administration processes including Parental Leave, FMLA, Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML), Workers Compensation, personal leave, and other types of company approved leave. This role will also work with medical accommodations and return-to-work processes. This position will partner closely with Payroll, HR, and third-party vendors to administer the programs, provide employee education, and support employees with benefit utilization.

Responsibilities

• Support Leave requests, providing employees guidance and procedures on how to navigate full cycle of Leave from initiation to return to work.
• Oversee tracking, documentation, and timely responses for active leave of absences and incoming requests.
• Work closely with employee managers to support employees who go on leave.
• Arrange approval of employee leaves and project codes to properly track in the system of record according to the leave types.
• Lead as subject matter expert on all aspects of multi-state and federal leave mandates as well as company leave policies and benefits.
• Continue ongoing development of leave management and compliance knowledge; stay current with changes in leave regulations and continually update company policy, procedure, and guidelines.
• Coordinate with the Payroll & Finance Systems team to ensure pay and use of PTO (or other leave codes) is reflective of the actual leave schedule and collaborate on the true-up and reconciliation process when the employee returns to work.
• Field and answer leave related questions about state and federal regulations, healthcare plans, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) related inquires.
• Liaison between departments and vendors on Workers Compensation related inquiries.
• Assist employees with Short-Term and Long-Term Disabilities inquiries.
• Other duties as assigned.

Key Qualifications and Skills

• Minimum of 5 years of Leave Administration experience including FMLA, disability, and life, as well as ancillary benefits.
• BA/BS degree or 10+ years of work experience in lieu of BA/BS degree.
• Knowledge of state and federal regulations, filing and compliance requirements both adopted and pending which could impact employee benefits programs.
• Working knowledge of multi-state leave of absence laws and regulations, as well as Workers Compensation policies.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, comfortable working with operations team/non-accounting professionals.
• Strong customer service in a high growth, high touch organization.
• Accuracy, time management, and timely follow-up.
• Proficient with Microsoft Excel and able to quickly adapt to other Finance and Accounting systems (ADP, Oracle Enterprise Cloud).
• Working knowledge of payroll systems, experience with ADP preferred.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented; high degree of accuracy.
• Ability to multi-task.
• Handle benefits projects and ad hoc requests timely and accurately.
• Capable of quickly comprehending new information and technologies, as well as ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong understanding of the sensitive nature of working with confidential leave, benefits, and payroll information.
• The successful candidate will possess a high degree of trust and integrity, communicate openly and display respect with a desire to foster teamwork.