Employee Benefits Law Specialist

Summary

EBSA plays a vital role in protecting the retirement health and other job-based benefits of Americas workers retirees and their families. We issue effective regulations offer comprehensive education and assistance to workers plan sponsors fiduciaries and service providers and rigorously enforce the law. We serve workers families and the broader employee benefits community by protecting the security and integrity of the nations benefit systems.

Duties

The position serves as an Employee Benefits Law Specialist responsible for the drafting major precedential interpretations variances opinions and advisory rulings; providing technical assistance to EBSA DOL and Federal agencies; conducting extensive research; recommending office policies and positions; participating in the revisions and development of regulations interpretations advisory opinion procedures and forms.

Duties include but are not limited to the following:

• Research and draft interpretations advisory opinions variances forms procedures and technical memoranda on ERISA and related laws affecting employer-sponsored group health plans.
• Identify analyze and resolve stakeholder issues by reviewing legislative history regulations and court/administrative rulings; evaluates the sufficiency of submissions; and conduct conferences to obtain necessary facts.
• Develop final guidance and recommend agency policy positions; participate in the development revision and promulgation of regulations and subregulatory guidance through intra- and interagency efforts.
• Provide authoritative technical assistance to EBSA components including assessing enforcement case materials and recommending interpretations policy positions and investigative strategies.
• Maintains liaison with federal and state agencies and industry stakeholders to exchange information interpret related laws address regulatory conflicts and persuade adoption of EBSA interpretations.
• Monitors legislative judicial and policy developments impacting group health plans and designs and delivers training and ad hoc reports to inform EBSA staff and stakeholders.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Must be at least 16 years old.
• Requires a probationary period if the requirement has not been met.
• Candidate required to obtain the necessary security/investigation level.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: Education: Undergraduate AND graduate education: Major study in one or a combination of the following fields- finance banking business administration economics mathematics accounting or auditing pension plan administration law industrial relations public administration or other related fields.

OR

Specialized Experience: Progressively responsible experience that demonstrated the ability to perform work in the field of pension and welfare plans. Such experience may have been gained in (1) management administration development analysis audit financial management or termination of such plans or their funds; or (2) in closely related work such as taxation securities and investments.

Specialized experience may have been gained in government a welfare and pension plan administration or consulting firm law firm actuarial or accounting firm labor union welfare and pension association or research service banking trust department or investment firm. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include:

• Analysis and application of fiduciary reporting and disclosure bonding funding vesting administration and termination provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and related laws regulations court decisions and precedent rulings.
• Development of proposals for new or revised pension or welfare plans petitions for exemptions or requests for rulings under governing law.
• Legal work a substantial portion of which required interpretation of Federal laws and legal requirements concerning welfare and pension plans or in such related fields as taxation securities real estate corporations trusts bankruptcy and investments.
• Auditing or accounting work that involved determining compliance with Federal and State laws governing welfare and pension plans securities banking insurance or corporations.
• Analysis of Federal laws or regulations development of policy and drafting of proposed changes in an employee welfare and benefit plan or a related function.

In addition to meeting the basic requirement above you must also meet the specialized experience requirement listed below: Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level GS-12 in the Federal Service.

Specialized Experience is the experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge skills and abilities (KSAs) to perform the duties of the position successfully and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level.

Applicants must meet 3 out of the 4 examples of experience listed below. Qualifying specialized experience is defined as:

1. Experience providing authoritative written analyses and delivering technical guidance in meetings consultations or presentations to help employers plan sponsors or group health plans comply with statutory and regulatory requirements under ERISA the Affordable Care Act the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and the No Surprises Act.

2. Experience leading or serving as a senior contributor on the development review and evaluation of legislative regulatory and administrative proposals affecting group health plans including assessing legal policy operational and compliance impacts on plan sponsors fiduciaries participants beneficiaries insurers and service providers.

3. Experience representing an agency or organization in intra- or interagency meetings committees working groups or consultations with Federal or State officials congressional staff regulated entities industry groups or other stakeholders to resolve complex health plan policy or compliance issues and to develop coordinated positions or recommendations.

4. Experience conducting extensive legal research and analysis of Federal and State statutes regulations case law and policy guidance governing group health plans welfare plans or related health insurance matters and using that analysis to develop regulations policy interpretations compliance assistance materials testimony briefing papers or other authoritative documents.

Note: Specialized experience must be clearly documented in your resume; merely copying this statement into your application does not demonstrate that you possess the required experience.

Education

Any applicant falsely claiming an academic degree from an accredited school will be subject to actions ranging from disqualification from federal employment to removal from federal service.

If your education was completed at a foreign college or university you must show comparability to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States and comparability to applicable minimum coursework requirements for this position. Click Evaluation of Foreign Education for more information.

Unofficial Transcript(s) (in English) - If you are using education as a basis for qualifying for this position you must submit all applicable academic transcripts demonstrating that you meet the qualifying educational requirements (ex. BA/BS MA JD PhD etc.). If specific coursework is required to qualify you must supply an unofficial transcript from each academic institution in which the required courses were taken in order to receive credit. You may upload your unofficial transcript(s) as one document with a maximum size limit of 5 MB.

NOTE: The OFFICIAL Transcript(s) MUST BE RECEIVED if you are selected and prior to receiving the firm offer with a start date.

Reference the Education Section for College Transcript and Evaluation of Foreign Education.

Additional information

Applicants must meet all legal and regulatory requirements. Reference the Required Documents section for additional requirements.

The mission of the Department of Labor (DOL) is to protect the welfare of workers and job seekers improve working conditions expand high-quality employment opportunities and assure work-related benefits and rights for all workers.

Refer to these links for more information: GENERAL INFORMATION REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION FORMER FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

As a condition of employment all personnel must undergo a background investigation for access to DOL facilities systems information and/or classified materials before they can enter on duty: BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION

This position is inside the bargaining unit. The duty location is within the Washington D.C. metropolitan area the position will be included in the Local 12 AFGE bargaining unit.

For more information click Telework Position Information. This is not a remote work position. The selectee will report to an assigned DOL office location on a regular basis and is eligible for participation in telework as determined by management in accordance with DOL policy.

Based on agency needs additional positions may be filled using this vacancy.

The Department of Labor may use certain incentives and hiring flexibilities currently offered by the Federal government to attract highly qualified candidates. Click for more information on Pay Leave and Workforce Flexibilities.

The Fair Chance Act (FCA) prohibits Federal agencies from requesting an applicants criminal history information before the agency makes a conditional offer of employment. If you believe a DOL employee has violated your rights under the FCA you may file a complaint of the alleged violation following our agencys complaint process Guidelines for Reporting Violations of the Fair Chance Act.

Note: The FCA does not apply to some positions specified under the Act such as law enforcement or national security positions.

All Department of Labor employees are subject to the provisions of the Drug-Free Workplace Program under Executive Order 12564 and Public Law 100-71.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e. physical or mental) covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position after notification of the adjudication of your request you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government passionate about the ideals of our American republic and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Required Experience:

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