Benefits Analyst - Leaves and Disability

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career. Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families. The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is: Grade: Professional 307 Pay Range: $68,300.00 - $102,500.00 Job Description The Benefits Analyst provides vital support toward ensuring smooth delivery of all WGU employee benefit plans, programs, and policies. These include retirement, healthcare, wellbeing, EAP, life and disability, paid time off, leaves-of-absence, accommodations, recognition, and other ancillary benefits. Provides personal-touch customer service to WGU employees nationwide. This role operates in a high-pace, high-growth environment and demands positive passion and enthusiasm. It delivers critical strategic, administrative and transaction support within the WGU People & Talent team. Provides stewardship of processes, analysis, data reconciliations and auditing, reporting, communications, and project management critical to the design and operation of all benefit plans. Works closely with all areas of People & Talent and various other internal and external contacts. Provides analytical, technical, process, and project support to the Employee Benefits team and others within Total Rewards. Collaborates with Employee Benefits team members and others on benefits strategy, design, operations, reporting, regular data reconciliations, audits, and system configuration reviews. Provides customer service, administrative, tactical, and system transaction support for a wide range of employee benefits tasks and processes. This includes answering benefits questions from employees and others, processing eligibility and enrollment transactions within the HR system, running reports, checking accuracy of data, researching issues, open enrollment, new employee presentations, and more.   Provides comprehensive case management and administrative support for a high volume of leave of absence and workplace accommodation cases , ensuring cases are managed accurately, timely, confidentially, and in accordance with applicable company policies and federal, state, and local requirements. Reviews and evaluates leave and accommodation requests and supporting documentation; tracks case status, required documentation, eligibility, deadlines, and employee communications; and coordinates appropriate next steps with employees, managers, People & Talent partners, Benefits, Payroll, vendors, and other internal stakeholders. Manages multiple complex and time-sensitive leave and accommodation cases simultaneously, prioritizing work based on business needs, employee circumstances, regulatory requirements, and established service-level expectations. Maintains accurate and complete case records and documentation in applicable systems and ensures timely follow-up on outstanding actions, certifications, approvals, denials, extensions, returns to work, and other case milestones. Supports the administration of leave programs, including FMLA, company-provided leaves, personal leaves, disability-related leaves, workers' compensation-related absences, and applicable state and local leave programs. Assists with the administration of workplace accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and applicable state and local requirements, including intake, documentation review, interactive process support, accommodation tracking, reevaluations, and coordination with appropriate People & Talent stakeholders. Partners with managers and People & Talent business partners to provide guidance regarding leave and accommodation processes, employee communications, attendance considerations, return-to-work requirements, and applicable policies. Escalates complex, sensitive, or potentially high-risk leave and accommodation matters to appropriate leadership, Employee Relations, Legal, or other subject matter experts as needed. Provides impeccable customer service and support in a timely, accurate, and professional manner. Using, the internal “help desk” support system, coordinates the handling of employee benefits, leave and accommodation questions from employees, business managers, third-party benefits administrators, payroll, and HR colleagues within People & Talent. Responds to questions and requests via phone, email, instant messaging, in-person, support queue, and other channels. Coordinates with third-party leave, disability, and benefits vendors to support timely and accurate case administration, resolve escalated issues, research discrepancies, and ensure appropriate communication and follow-up. Monitors vendor performance and case activity and escalates service concerns, processing errors, or employee-impacting issues when appropriate. Serves as a mentor and trainer for less experienced team members and provides peer review of team member work as necessary. Supports team consistency and qualit