WHAT DOES A BENEFITS DO?

Updated: Mai 31, 2025 - The Benefits involve administering employee benefit programs, including health insurance, retirement plans, and wellness initiatives. This position includes ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, coordinating benefit enrollments, and managing vendor relationships. This role encompasses evaluating program effectiveness, recommending improvements, and communicating benefit information clearly to employees.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Benefits

1. Benefits Analyst Duties

  • Calendar Management: Maintain a calendar of the marketing and analysis process
  • Data Collection: Gather data from clients and carriers for RFP completion
  • Data Scrubbing: Scrubbing census and eligibility data
  • Vendor Negotiation: Negotiation with vendors and final feedback to incumbents
  • Spreadsheet Accuracy: Ensure spreadsheets are reviewed for accuracy against current and requested contracts
  • Contract Analysis: Contract comparison analysis
  • Contract Familiarity: Familiarity with core carrier contracts, policies, and differentiators
  • Team Communication: Communication to the Employee Benefits team on relevant product deliverables
  • Vendor Accountability: Vendor accountability for quote accuracy
  • Server Maintenance: Maintain server with quotes/final quoted terms from vendors
  • Salesforce Maintenance: Maintain Salesforce with accurate vendor contacts
  • Claims Data Organization: Facilitate and organize client claims utilization data for larger clients on a periodic basis
  • Meeting Attendance: Attendance at weekly Employee Benefits meetings, planning sessions, and NFP-sponsored events

2. Senior Benefits Analyst Details

  • Benefits Administration: Manage day-to-day administration of all benefits and leaves (LOA/STD/LTD/FMLA), maintaining eligibility and changes
  • Retiree Guidance: Provide guidance to Mizuho retirees initiating pension and retiree medical benefits
  • Invoice Reconciliation: Reconciliation and payment of vendor invoices
  • Compliance Assurance: Ensure compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations that impact benefit plans
  • Enrollment Facilitation: Facilitate annual enrollment process and communications, including implementation of recommended benefit plan and vendor changes/review
  • Benefits Communication: Preparation of creative benefit communications to enhance understanding and utilization of certain benefit programs (Total Rewards, Wellness, Retirement Savings)
  • Wellness Coordination: Coordinate with vendors to develop and recommend wellness campaigns and challenges
  • Payroll Collaboration: Work closely with payroll to ensure benefit deductions and pay leaves are processed accurately
  • Data Integrity: Responsible for maintaining and ensuring data integrity between HRIS system (Workday) and all carriers
  • Testing Coordination: Organize information required for all nondiscrimination testing, 5500 preparation, SARs, Audits, etc.
  • Compliance Review: Perform plan audits, required tax filings, non-discrimination testing, and compliance review (Health Care Reform)
  • Renewal Involvement: Involvement with annual plan renewals, and open enrollment including medical, Rx, stop loss ins., vision, and dental
  • Retirement Administration: Manage day-to-day administration of the retirement plans including enrollments, changes, questions, etc.

3. Benefits Assistant Responsibilities

  • Duty Performance: Perform duties with or without reasonable accommodation.
  • Enrollment Assistance: Assists employees with benefit enrollment, including data entry.
  • Leave Processing: Processes any leaves of absence, including but not limited to workers’ compensation claims, short-term and long-term disability claims, and administers FMLA.
  • Accommodation Administration: Administers the reasonable accommodations process, as well as dependent eligibility and life event verification appeals.
  • Data Maintenance: Maintains employee data files and ensures items are archived and disposed of per company guidelines.
  • Issue Identification: Works proactively to identify, investigate, and report irregularities within a designated area of responsibility.
  • Conducts Training: Conducts training and cross-training of knowledge and expertise within area of responsibility.
  • External Communication: Communicates with internal and external auditors, attorneys, insurance companies, and government agencies.
  • Team Collaboration: Collaborates with team members and communicates relevant information to the direct leader.
  • Data Security: Upholds the security and confidentiality of documents and data within area of responsibility.

4. Benefit Consultant Job Summary

  • Benefit Evaluation: Evaluating, analyzing, and recommending benefits and program design that meet the client’s short and long-term objectives
  • Benefits Analysis: Performing benefits analyses that include claims analyses, budget projections, and benchmarking studies
  • Project Management: Contributing to successful project management
  • Progress Monitoring: Monitoring progress against the project plan
  • Issue Resolution: Resolving project issues at appropriate levels
  • Issue Communication: Informing the relationship manager and team of pertinent issues
  • Operations Oversight: Overseeing routine benefit area operations to ensure equitable and timely benefit program administration
  • Team Collaboration: Partnering and communicating effectively in a team environment
  • Sales Support: Supporting sales and product development as part of the broader team
  • Tool Development: Contributing to the development of the Company’s consulting tools and processes
  • Process Improvement: Researching, identifying, and executing creative solutions and best practices to enable process improvement
  • Technical Support: Providing ongoing technical support to clients

5. Benefit Coordinator Functions

  • Invoice Management: Provide end-to-end management of benefits invoicing, payment, and reconciliation process
  • Vendor Management: Manage benefit vendor relationships
  • Change Support: Support vendor changes, off-cycle benefit changes, enrollment system implementation, and new benefits programs or initiatives
  • Workers Compensation: Support the Workers' Compensation process
  • Compliance Reporting: Fulfill compliance and reporting requirements
  • Legislation Awareness: Maintain a working knowledge of federal and state legislation influencing benefits
  • Issue Resolution: Serve as primary subject matter expert for benefit issue/support escalations, day-to-day plan administration, compliance, and the interpretation and enforcement of benefits policies and procedures
  • Data Coordination: Coordinate with HRIS and Enrollment vendors to ensure all appropriate employee and benefit data is updated and reports are available for Senior Management, vendors, and other stakeholders
  • Benefits Communication: Contribute to the design and distribution of benefit communication materials through various media
  • Process Documentation: Contribute to the documentation of the process for multi-plan benefits programs

6. Benefits Manager Job Description

  • Benefits Management: Manage comprehensive employee benefit programs, including medical, dental, vision, wellness, life insurance, disability, and 401k.
  • Enrollment Leadership: Lead the end-to-end annual benefit Open Enrollment Process, including negotiation with brokers and employee communications.
  • Internal Collaboration: Collaborate with internal stakeholders (People Ops, Legal, Finance) on renewals, compliance, and program implementations.
  • Trend Analysis: Analyze employee requirements and industry trends to recommend benefits program enhancements.
  • Employee Education: Partner with People Ops to educate candidates, new hires, and departing employees about benefits.
  • Vendor Relations: Maintain relationships and communication with benefits vendors.
  • Leave Administration: Administer and monitor leaves of absence, ensuring FMLA and state regulations compliance.
  • Parental Leave: Manage generous parental leave policies.
  • Compliance Oversight: Oversee benefit program compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
  • Program Improvement: Continuously improve benefit programs to meet the evolving needs of employees and the organization.

7. Benefits Program Manager Overview

  • Project Planning: Develop, articulate, and execute project plans for ongoing and new rewards initiatives.
  • Program Benchmarking: Ensure benefits programs are current with regard to trends, practices, costs, and local competitiveness, and make recommendations to improve offerings.
  • Project Participation: Drive and/or participate in team projects to support growing and dynamic workforce.
  • Compliance Roadmap: Develop a roadmap and an execution plan for compliance initiatives.
  • Policy Oversight: Develop, manage, and oversee the written guidelines, policies, and internal controls.
  • Material Development: Drive the development and delivery of materials for committees/approval meetings.
  • Change Management: Develop a complex and broad-based implementation strategy for communication and change management plans.
  • Cost Optimization: Make recommendations on plan design, integration/implementation, funding options, and in partnership with Amazon Procurement, identify opportunities to reduce program and/or vendor expenses.
  • Issue Consultation: Provide consultation and SME support for arising benefit plan issues.
  • Process Refinement: Evaluate systemic issues and consult with key stakeholders to develop and refine processes and policies.
  • Executive Influence: Ability to influence executives, in partnership with cross-functional business leaders, to gain approvals on programs.
  • Experience Enhancement: Look for systematic ways to enhance employee experiences and vendor delivery of services to ensure consistency across the company.
  • Feedback Mechanisms: Develop metrics and/or survey mechanisms to collect employee feedback and design solutions to meet the diverse needs of employees.

8. Benefits Specialist Tasks

  • Plan Administration: Administer employee benefit plans in accordance with plan documents and contracts, initiating necessary amendments.
  • Issue Resolution: Act as an expert resource for resolving benefit-related issues and grievances from employees, managers, and HR stakeholders.
  • Inquiry Management: Monitor and manage inquiries via the shared Benefits Team email inbox.
  • Disability Guidance: Provide guidance on disability benefits and assist in resolving application-related issues.
  • Payment Auditing: Maintain, approve, and audit disability plan payments and benefits invoices.
  • Data Oversight: Ensure data quality and integrity through oversight of data transfers between CP and benefits service providers.
  • Error Analysis: Correct and test new functionality, analyze error reports, and collaborate with partners to resolve issues.
  • Utilization Reporting: Compile, analyze, and report benefits utilization data for Union employees and Retirees to identify trends.
  • Enrollment Support: Participate in the annual FlexBenefits enrollment process, ensuring accuracy and a positive employee experience.
  • Vendor Implementation: Support the implementation of new vendors and benefits, researching, documenting, and troubleshooting integration issues.
  • Rate Implementation: Initiate and implement new benefit rates, including calculations and updates for Union Pay Direct and Co-Pay rates.
  • Interface Auditing: Conduct regular audits of interfaces to ensure proper functionality.

9. Senior Benefits Specialist Roles

  • Budget Management: Develops, recommends, and monitors budget allocations for employee benefit programs and services.
  • Policy Improvement: Initiates and develops changes in policies and procedures that improve the quality, efficiency, and customer experience in the delivery and administration of benefits.
  • Project Leadership: Leads project/process teams in the review and evaluation of benefit plans to identify potential cost savings and changes that add value to the organization and employees.
  • Contract Management: Manages plan contracts and service agreements with vendors and consultants to ensure compliance, evaluate quality of performance, and track and report metrics such as costs, utilization, etc. to management.
  • Renewal Management: Manages the annual renewal and re-bid process for benefits plans.
  • Vendor Negotiation: Participates in negotiations with vendors of benefit products and services.
  • Negotiation Analysis: Conducts pre-negotiation research, data analysis, and costing projections.
  • Communication Planning: Plans, develops, and directs the communication and implementation strategy for new and existing benefit programs such as retirement, long-term disability, open enrollment, deferred compensation, etc.
  • Knowledge Transfer: Provides coaching and knowledge transfer to less experienced Benefits Specialist in specialty areas.
  • Benefits Orientation: Conducts group orientations and consults with managers/employees on benefit program features, policies, and application.
Relevant Information
What Does A Benefits Consultant Do?
What Does A Benefits Manager Do?
What Does A Benefits Specialist Do?
What Does A Benefits Administrator Do?