Benefits Coordinator

Statement of Duties

The Benefits Coordinator is responsible for operational and transactional tasks associated with Benefits management including the provision of day to day maintenance and support of employee benefit records for School, City, and Retired employees. The tasks include but are not limited to the collection, organization, enrollment and electronic entry of Health, Dental, Vision, Flexible Spending, Long Term Disability and Life insurance paperwork submitted on a daily basis. The employee also responds to the benefits line and ad hoc walk-ins daily. Additionally, the employee processes invoice payment for Dental, Vision, Flexible Spending and Benefits Broker. The employee maintains an electronic spreadsheet of changes and their statuses.

Essential Functions:

The essential functions or duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various type of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position.

• Communicates benefit changes to payroll and employees via HRIS system and via written correspondence.
• Follows procedures to allocate benefits.
• Track changes new hires, leaves and terminations to insure applicable changes are processed in the system and new hires receive welcome email and termination receive end of employment benefits email.
• Submits enrollments to benefit vendors for all eligibility changes via various mediums including email, electronic file transfer, paper mail and online.
• Maintains employee files while ensuring both accuracy and confidentiality.
• Respond to walk in benefits inquiries, benefits email address and benefits phone line.
• Guides employees through filling out benefits paperwork as needed.
• Dental/Vision COBRA administration.
• Process Benefit Calculation Spreadsheets and enter changes into HRIS system within applicable payroll deadlines.
• Assist employees with enrolling in medical, dental and vision insurance plans
• Resolve employee issues with insurance providers and other benefits administrators
• Consult with employees about eligibility and other issues
• Review payroll deductions to insure entries have been processed.
• Maintain tracking sheet of all actions to insure all is processed.
• Process benefit enrollments, changes and cancellations quickly and accurately.
• Establishes documented guidelines and procedures on how preform job functions.
• Participates in RFP processes.
• Review and pay for Dental, Vision and Life, Benefits Broker and Flex Spending invoices monthly.
• Maintain electronic HIRD files

Recommended Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience: Three (3) years’ experience with benefits administration and HRIS systems or any equivalent combination of education, training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

Knowledge, Abilities and Skill

Knowledge: Understanding of Employee Benefits Administration. Proficient in Excel (e.g. Vlookups, pivot tables, concatenate, writing formulas etc.)

Ability: Ability to handle problems and emergencies effectively; ability to communicate clearly, both orally and in writing; ability to operate a personal computer; ability to maintain confidential information; ability to maintain, manage, and organize records; ability to deal appropriately with City employees, City officials and members of the general public.

Skill: Strong interpersonal skills; excellent communication skills both oral and written; proficient computer skills for all office software programs including word processing and spread sheet applications.

Candidates must have exceptional interpersonal and Microsoft Office skills. Strong attention to detail, customer service orientation and the ability to stay organized while maintaining confidentiality are also very important.

Work Environment

The work environment involves everyday discomforts typical of offices, with occasional exposure to outside elements. Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting, but conditions are generally not unpleasant. Employee may be required to work beyond normal business hours in response to attend evening meetings or complete work assignments.

Physical and Mental Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the position’s essential functions.

Physical Skills

Few physical demands are required to perform the work. Work effort principally involves sitting to perform work tasks, with intermittent periods of stooping, walking, and standing. May also be some occasional lifting of objects such as office equipment and computer paper (up to 30 lbs).

Motor Skills

Duties are largely mental rather than physical, but the job may occasionally require minimal motor skills for activities such as moving objects, operating a telephone, personal computer and/or most other office equipment including word processing, filing and sorting of papers.

Visual Skills

Visual demands require constantly reading documents for general understanding and analytical purposes.

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The City of Somerville is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability or any other protected category. Women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities free of charge, upon request. Persons with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication (i.e., CART, ASL), written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures in order to access the programs, activities, and meetings of the City of Somerville should please contact the ADA Coordinator at View phone number on us.fitly.work or View email address on us.fitly.work.

Pre-Employment Requirements for All Employees:

• MA Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) clearance
• Completion of Conflict-of-Interest Law Education training for municipal employees

Overview of Total Rewards:

• 4 weeks annual vacation for non-union positions. Union positions vary by contract. Please note, police officers are members of the SPEA union. Public Health Nurses are part of Union A (SMEA).
• Medical insurance through the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) - 80% of premium costs paid by City
• Dental coverage low and high plans through Cigna
• Vision care through Vision Service Plan (VSP)
• Long term disability through Sun Life
• Group and voluntary life insurance through Boston Mutual
• Health Care and Dependent Care flexible spending through Benefit Strategies
• Deferred compensation plans through a choice of three vendors
• Free, confidential services through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provided by E4Health
• Annual cancer screening & wellness release
• Tuition reimbursement
• MBTA pass program
• FREE Blue Bikes membership
• Eligible employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)

Benefits listed are for benefits-eligible positions and the above information is meant to be a general overview of the benefit programs offered by the City of Somerville and not a binding contract.