Benefits Manager

About the Company Pennant Services is one of the most dynamic and progressive companies in the rapidly expanding senior living, home health, hospice, and home care industries. Affiliates of Pennant Services now operate 250+ senior living, home health, hospice and home care operations across 19 states and we are growing! These operations have no corporate headquarters or traditional management hierarchy. Instead, they operate independently with support from the "Service Center," a world-class service team that provides the centralized clinical, legal, risk management, HR, training, accounting, IT and other resources necessary to allow on-site leaders and caregivers to focus squarely on day-to-day care and business issues in their individual agencies. Something else that sets us apart from other companies is the quality of our most valuable resources - our people! We are dedicated to living out our culture as defined by our core values, "CAPLICO": Customer Second Accountability Passion for Learning Love One Another Intelligent Risk Taking Celebrate Ownership About the Opportunity Pennant is seeking a Leave of Absence Manager to lead our Leave of Absence Team and drive exceptional employee experiences for service center and operational employees across Pennant's multi-state footprint. This position will lead our Leave of Absence team in developing and delivering consistent, compliant, and employee-centered leave and accommodation programs that support our growing organization while enhancing the experience of employees and leaders. This position will partner and align with the HR resource team to create a world-class employee experience. The qualified individual reports to Pennant's Director of Total Rewards and will have resource responsibility in support of home health, hospice, home care, and senior living operations across the organization. The Leave of Absence Manager serves as Pennant's subject matter expert for leave administration and workplace accommodations, providing leadership to a team of leave professionals while ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local laws. This role partners closely with Human Resources, Legal, Benefits, Payroll, and operational leaders to manage complex cases, improve processes, and support a scalable leave administration function. The position will be in-office at least 3 days a week with some travel expected. Duties and Responsibilities Lead, coach, and develop a team responsible for leave of absence administration and accommodation management. Oversee the administration of all leave programs, including FMLA, ADA, PWFA, USERRA, state and local leave programs, company leaves, and disability-related absences. Serve as the escalation point for complex leave and accommodation cases. Partner with operational leaders, HR resources, Benefits, Payroll, Legal, Workers Compensation, HRIS, and third-party administrators to ensure consistent and compliant case management. Develop and maintain leave administration policies, procedures, training materials, and employee communications. Oversight of premium collection for direct bill and COBRA Monitor regulatory changes and ensure organizational compliance with federal, state, and local leave and accommodation requirements. Analyze leave trends, case volumes, and operational metrics to identify opportunities for process improvement and enhanced employee experience. Manage relationships with third-party leave administrators and other vendors supporting leave and accommodation programs. Passionately embrace and practice our core values and guide and train the organization in the management of employee relations within those core values. Serve as a strategic partner who understands the unique needs of Pennant's home health, hospice, home care, and senior living operations. The above statements are only meant to be a representative summary of the major duties and responsibilities performed by incumbents of this job. The incumbents may be requested to perform job-related tasks other than those stated in this description. Qualifications Required 5+ years' experience managing complex leaves in a multi-state environment, disability, and workplace accommodations, including administration of the ADA interactive process. 2+ years' experience in leading a team of leave administrators Strong knowledge of: FMLA, ADA, PWFA, USERRA State and local leave laws Experience partnering with third-party l #J-18808-Ljbffr