Benefits Administrator

Metropolitan Council•390 Robert St. N St. Paul, MN

16h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Benefits Administrator manages tasks associated with employee benefit plans for active/terminated/retired employees of the Metropolitan Council in accordance with policies, contracts, bargaining unit agreements, and federal/state regulations and laws. They ensure accurate processing of status changes, union changes, and new hire benefit enrollments. They also provide guidance to active and inactive employees regarding medical, dental, vision, flexible spending, life insurance, long-term disability (LTD), deferred compensation programs, retiree benefits, and COBRA continuation. In addition, they coordinate the collection of benefits premiums for employees on leave of absence.

Requirements

High school diploma/GED and at least 5 years of experience in benefits administration in a mid-size (500+ employees) or larger organization.
Associate's degree and at least 3 years of experience in benefits administration in a mid-size (500+ employees) or larger organization.
Bachelor's degree and at least 1 year of experience in benefits administration in a mid-size (500+ employees) or larger organization.
Knowledge of benefits administration processes and legislative requirements.
Knowledge of policies; procedures; labor agreements; and federal/state laws, regulations, and statutes as they relate to employee benefit plans.
Basic Microsoft Word skills.
Ability to read and interpret documents, instructions, and procedure manuals.
Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.
Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers.
Ability to calculate figures and amounts.
High attention to detail to ensure accuracy.
Strong analytical and mathematical skills, with the ability to calculate benefit percentages, premiums, and deductions accurately.
Skill to provide basic client services to the public and other agencies within the organization while exercising tact, courtesy and cooperation when exchanging information.
Ability to promote an equitable, positive and respectful work environment that values culture and diversity among employees.

Nice To Haves

PeopleSoft and/or Benefitfocus experience.
Payroll and/or accounting experience.
Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) certification.
Intermediate Microsoft Excel skills.

Responsibilities

Explain provisions of the insurance benefit programs for employees and retirees.
Provide information about the online enrollment site and answer questions about changes in contracts and coverage, determining if requests meet legal requirements.
Perform administrative functions within the third-party online enrollment site.
Ensure that work status changes and qualified status changes affecting employee insurance coverage are correctly processed.
Audit to ensure the HRIS system accurately reflects benefit elections as loaded from the system of record (Third Party Benefit Administration platform).
Participate in open enrollment activities; conduct the benefits segment of New Employee Orientation.
Act as liaison between employees, retirees, and insurance carriers to ensure proper customer service, research complex discrepancies, and provide information about filing appeals, if necessary.
Audit various billings for accuracy; research, analyze, and reconcile errors and discrepancies.
Provide documentation of benefits for all leaves of absence events.
Monitor leaves of absence and missing paychecks for benefit impact.
Run automated processes or provide a manual process to collect premiums where no payroll deduction has occurred.
Coordinate the billing process for premium collection.
Monitor leaves of absence for accurate benefit billing.
Terminate coverage for non-payment of premiums and maintain documentation of changes.
Attend and provide documentation of benefits at medical disqualification meetings.
Administer Qualified Medical Support orders and benefit portions of employment verifications.
Coordinate life insurance claims for employees and retirees.
Coordinate long-term disability benefit application and billing process for disabled employees.