Benefits Analyst

Job Description

Job Description

Overview

Shearer’s Foods, founded in 1974 and headquartered in Massillon, OH, is a leading manufacturer of salty snacks, cookies, and crackers. Specializing in private label and co-manufacturing, Shearer’s is the largest supplier of private brand salty snacks and second-largest supplier of private brand cookies and crackers.

With a strong focus on innovation, service, quality, and sustainability, Shearer’s has been awarded the food industry’s highest award for environmental sustainability, as well as multiple Supplier of the Year awards.

Operating 16 locations across North America and employing more than 5000 team members, Shearer’s is driven by its core values of People, Grow, Impact and Win. The company mission is to deliver exceptional products and services that make snacking a time to celebrate for our customers, colleagues, and community.

At Shearer’s Foods, we believe in a skills-first approach to recruitment and employment. This means focusing on what you can do and how you can grow, rather than traditional metrics alone. We are committed to adhering to anti-exclusion practices, removing barriers to access, and enhancing opportunities for all individuals based on merit and potential. Your skills, experience, and perspective are valuable—and we want to empower you to make your mark here with us. 

Responsibilities

BENEFITS ANALYST

Massillon, OH

Hybrid

The Benefits Analyst will support the day-to-day administration, analysis, and continuous improvement of employee benefit programs, with a strong emphasis on leave administration, including FMLA, disability, state and local leaves, company leaves, accommodations coordination, and related benefit continuation. This role also supports health and welfare plans, retirement plans, voluntary benefits, and other employee programs. The Benefits Analyst serves as a key point of contact for employees, HR partners, payroll, carriers, brokers, leave vendors, and third-party administrators, ensuring benefit and leave programs are administered accurately, timely, empathetically, and in compliance with applicable federal and state regulations. The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, analytical, service-minded, and comfortable balancing routine administration with leave case coordination, reporting, audits, issue resolution, and process improvement. The Total Rewards team prides itself on providing excellent customer service to our internal customers across the Shearer’s organization.

Your seat at the table:

• Administer employee benefit and leave programs, including medical, dental, vision, life, disability, retirement, HSA/FSA, voluntary benefits, FMLA, state and local leaves, company leaves, and other company-sponsored programs.
• Process benefit enrollments, qualifying life event changes, terminations, beneficiary updates, leave-related benefit continuation updates, and other employee benefit transactions accurately and timely in ADP WFN and related vendor systems.
• Respond to employee questions regarding benefit eligibility, leave of absence processes, FMLA and disability requirements, plan provisions, enrollment processes, payroll deductions, claims issues, and general benefit procedures while delivering a high level of customer service.
• Partner with insurance carriers, brokers, leave administrators, third-party administrators, and internal HR, Payroll, Finance, Legal, and Operations teams to resolve benefit and leave issues, research discrepancies, and support program administration.
• Monitor leave cases for timeliness, documentation requirements, status changes, escalations, and compliance with applicable federal, state, local, and company leave policies.
• Coordinate leave administration activities, including intake support, eligibility review, employee and manager communications, vendor follow-up, return-to-work tracking, intermittent leave monitoring, benefit continuation, and coordination with payroll deductions.
• Maintain accurate benefits and leave records, employee files, plan documents, leave communications, case documentation, system data, and reporting materials to support compliance, audits, and employee service needs.
• Conduct regular audits of benefit eligibility, leave status, enrollment data, payroll deductions, carrier feeds, dependent information, vendor files, and leave vendor data to ensure data accuracy and integrity.Support annual open enrollment, including testing system configuration, preparing communications, answering employee questions, processing elections, auditing results, and coordinating post-enrollment corrections.
• Prepare, analyze, and maintain benefits and leave reports related to enrollment, participation, leave utilization, leave status, plan utilization, invoice reconciliation, payroll deductions, employee demographics, and compliance requirements.

• Review and reconcile carrier invoices, benefit deductions, and eligibility files, partnering with Payroll, Finance, and vendors to research and resolve discrepancies.

• Assist with compliance activities and reporting, including ACA, ERISA, HIPAA, COBRA, FMLA, state and local leave requirements, Section 125, Form 5500 support, nondiscrimination testing, plan notices, and other required filings or disclosures.

• Support benefits- and leave-related projects such as plan renewals, leave process improvements, vendor implementations, system updates, wellness initiatives, acquisitions or integrations, employee communications, and policy or procedure updates.

Qualifications

What you bring to the table:

• Bachelor's degree in human resources, Business Administration, Industrial Psychology, or related field required.
• Three to four years of experience in benefits administration, with hands-on experience supporting leave administration, HR operations, payroll, HRIS or a similar role.
• Proficiency in ADP WFN or other HRIS/benefits administration systems required; experience with vendor portals and carrier files preferred.
• Working knowledge of employee benefits and leave regulations and related compliance requirements, including ACA ERISA, HIPAA, COBRA, FMLA, state and local leave laws, disability benefits and Section 125.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, problem solving, and customer-service skills with the ability to explain benefits and leave information clearly, empathetically, and confidently.
• detail-oriented and highly organized, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and pivot with a positive attitude as business needs change.
• Experience with leave administration, FMLA, disability benefits, self-funded health plans, wellness programs, benefits communications, invoice reconciliation, or annual compliance filings is preferred.
• Benefits certification or progress toward CEBS, PHR, SHRM-CP, or a related credential is a plus.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law .

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