Absence Management Lead

Les Schwab • Bend, OR

5h

About The Position

The Absence Management Lead oversees the company’s ADA interactive process and provides functional guidance to the Leave Administration HR team. The role serves as the primary subject matter expert across more than 550 retail locations in multiple states, managing complex end-to-end cases while evaluating technology solutions—including internal tools, AI solutions, and leave software—to support scalable absence management as the company expands.

The position directs accommodation requests under the ADA, long-term work restrictions, state and local disability laws, and other accommodation needs. It assesses medical certifications, essential job functions, and operational impacts to determine reasonable and compliant accommodations. In partnership with Legal, Workers’ Compensation, and department managers, the role helps mitigate risk and implement job modifications, reassignment protocols, or equipment adjustments while avoiding undue operational hardship. It also maintains documentation and case tracking to support compliance and reduce legal risk.

The Lead provides functional oversight and guidance to the Leave Administration team handling routine and complex multi-state leave cases, monitors team KPIs and service and quality benchmarks, and evaluates technology and process improvements using leave data and operational analysis.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field.
• 3–5 years of progressive HR experience, including at least 2–5 years dedicated to complex ADA interactive case management and multi-state leave administration.
• Thorough understanding of federal, state, and local disability and leave laws across multiple jurisdictions, including FMLA, ADA, Workers’ Compensation, California CFRA, and state PFML mandates.
• Strong knowledge of employment-related laws and regulations for all operating states.
• Demonstrated experience evaluating, adopting, or optimizing HR technology, Absence Management Software (AMS), or automated AI workflows.
• Proficiency with Google Suite.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex information clearly across organizational levels.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills and ability to build trust and work across management levels.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment.
• Customer-centric approach emphasizing empathy, transparency, respect, and creative problem-solving.
• Ability to handle sensitive medical and personnel matters with strict discretion.
• Ability to operate effectively and drive results with minimal supervision.
• Ability to exercise independent judgment in complex, high-risk accommodation scenarios and make sound decisions based on issue criticality, urgency, facts, and medical certifications.

Nice To Haves

• CPDM (Certified Manager of Disability Management), CLMS (Certified Leave Management Specialist), SPHR, PHR, SHRM-SCP, or SHRM-CP certification.
• Multi-location retail or service industry experience.

Responsibilities

• Direct and execute the end-to-end interactive process for employee accommodation requests under the ADA, long-term work restrictions, state and local disability laws, and other accommodation needs across all locations.
• Assess medical certifications, essential job functions, and operational or departmental impacts to determine reasonable, compliant accommodations.
• Partner with Legal, Workers’ Compensation, and department managers to mitigate risk and implement job modifications, reassignment protocols, or equipment adjustments without causing undue operational hardship.
• Maintain comprehensive documentation and case tracking to support compliance and mitigate legal and litigation risks.
• Provide guidance and functional oversight to the Leave Administration team handling routine and complex multi-state leave cases, partnering with Workers’ Compensation and Legal as needed.
• Track and monitor KPIs, service-level expectations, and quality-assurance benchmarks for the internal leave team.
• Evaluate and implement technology strategies to streamline leave and ADA processes.
• Analyze leave data and operational bottlenecks to build business cases for process improvements.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior