Employer Relations Specialist

Job Type
Full-time
Description
SEIU Healthcare IL Benefit Funds is a dynamic healthcare organization committed to providing the highest quality health and retirement benefits in the most financially responsible manner, while always acting in the best interest of the union members. We serve over 20,000 union workers in the Nursing Home, Home Care, Child Care and Personal Assistance industries with health and pension benefits . Our employees epitomize the Fund's core values of quality service, interdependence, effectiveness, and accountability through the alliance to each other, the organization and those we serve.
In SEIU Healthcare IL Benefit Funds, our highest priority is the health and safety of our employees. We have taken safety protocols to slowly welcome and transition some of our employees back to the office. We continue to monitor and assess before we confirm the return of each wave to ensure the safety of our employees and their families.
Position Summary:
The Employer Relations Specialist is responsible for a full range of contribution and eligibility duties for participating employers, including resolving member eligibility issues, employer web and payment issues, and general employer education. This highly visible service role is the accountable point person for working interdepartmentally in an effort to build relationships with all employers, which results in expedited and streamlined premium payments and clear communications for employer technical issues.
This position will need to effectively communicate with employers, union representatives, interdepartmental staff, and members to troubleshoot system issues, resolve eligibility problems and provide updates on collection activity.
The Employer Relations Specialist also processes pension hours disputes for the Pension Department and serves as a backup to the Eligibility Assistant regarding COBRA notices and payments, and various employer billings. This role also supports the Collections Specialist as a backup regarding payroll audit payments data entry in the benefit administration system and collection efforts.
The Employer Relations Specialist will be responsible for the following:
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
• Manage and grow positive relationships between employers and the Fund(s); mastering written, verbal, and electronic communications to understand employer's concerns and to resolve payment or eligibility issues.
• Work independently with proper follow up processes with Employers regarding monthly billing, discrepancies on invoice payments, web remittance processing issues, and contribution delinquency notifications
• Assist the department and employers troubleshoot issues and to solve eligibility problems utilizing critical thinking skills
• Provide outreach to train Employer staff and convey remittance and collection policies and procedures of the Funds
• Update agreements and contracts in the benefits administration system
• Develop and maintain process documents that outline procedures for employer transitions from paper to web remittance, all electronic processing, setup new users, new contracts, and training for new users, etc.
• Independently update and manage member and employer files in the benefit administration system with labor/management contract information, notes, comments, and scanned documents to track outreach activity and delinquencies; this includes the process of new user setup
• Work with the C&E Supervisor regarding monthly Payroll Deduction Billing by analyzing members billed vs. eligibility data.
• Generate monthly quality assurance reports and notify employers regarding missing payments for pension or health and welfare.
• Support leadership with back-up needs of C&E Supervisor as secondary communicator for sending Payroll Deduction notices to the employer.
• Work inter-departmentally with the Member Service Department and the Pension Department by responding to email inquiries or inquiries via the Smartsheet ticketing system
• Reconcile eligibility/hours discrepancies, analyzing transactional data & submit retroactive eligibility/hours changes
• Work inter-departmentally with Administrative, Member Service and Claims and Pension departments to resolve issues, prepare reports and to analyze the impact of various issues on eligibility
• Prepare and update Contributions & Eligibility departmental policies and procedures as they relate to contributions, eligibility, and Employer Relations and provide recommendations for procedural changes
• Effectively communicate with employers, union representatives, other departments, and members
• Maintain Employer NH Contact List in basys ServiceXG and project management software, including employer contacts, contract terms, and contribution type.
• Engage with the Contributions & Eligibility department email on a daily basis and respond to employer inquiries in a timely fashion, within 24 hours
• Send notifications to employers when change in ownership or management changes occur
• Train employer staff on an ad-hoc basis on navigating the web remittance system and contribution requirements.
• Attend and participate in various meetings, including monthly All Staff meetings, department meetings, training sessions, task force or committee meetings, and other meetings as deemed appropriate to share, discuss, and solution for question or error trends, as well as identify potential process improvements.
• Create one-on-one (1:1) agendas with the Contribution and Eligibility Manager using the Purpose, Outcome and Process (POP) Model and thorough notes must be kept for each meeting.
• Back-up all duties of the Collections Specialist as needed.
Privacy and Security Responsibilities:
This position requires employee to handle Financial Information, Personal Identifiable Information (PII) and Protected Health Information (PHI) for our members and stakeholders. You will be responsible and accountable for maintaining the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all PII, PHI and Financial Information. Report any suspected HIPAA violation or breach to our HIPAA Privacy and Security Officer.
Requirements
Education Requirements:

• 4-Year degree in Accounting, Finance or Business or the equivalent combination of education, work experience, certification, and/or training

Job Requirements:

• 2-4 years of experience in employer benefit plan administration including an understanding of processing contribution and eligibility related transactions, familiarity with accounting practices and related system data entry
• 2-4 years of customer service experience, preferably in a membership based organization
• Experience with benefit administration system related to member eligibility for Health & Welfare or Pension
• Data entry experience
• Ability to type 35 words per minute accurately
• Experience with desktop computers, laptop computers, printers, copiers, scanners, fax and other office equipment
• Proficient skills in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and Outlook)
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Critical thinker that can interpret contract terms into policies
• Excellent interpersonal skills at all levels of business, including effectively communicating with peers, leads, managers, executives, and external partners
• Strong phone etiquette skills with active listening
• Strong analytical and researching techniques to trend or quantify projects
• Must be well organized and detail oriented with demonstrated effective time-management
• Must have the ability to work independently and within a team environment
• Ability to meet deadlines
• Exercise clear and concise judgment
• Ability and willingness to assist in special projects and handle multiple tasks

Preferred Skills:

• Taft-Hartley experience is a plus
• Knowledge of the Fund's benefit administration system (HPS or basys)
• Experience with project management software, such as Smartsheet
• Experience working in a remote environment with laptop provided
• Experience with virtual conference software (Teams, GotoMeeting and Zoom)
• Internal and external awareness of social movements, labor movements, and political issues that impact the work and the organization

Career Development & Continuing Education Opportunities: Yes
Benefits:
SEIU Healthcare IL Benefit Funds offers a comprehensive health benefits (medical, dental and vision coverage) for employees and eligible dependents, including no employee premium option for employee only; competitive compensation; generous holidays and PTO policies; and a pension retirement plan.
Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: SEIU Healthcare IL Benefit Funds is an Equal Employment Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.
The SEIU Healthcare IL Benefit Funds vision is to create a more just and equitable society that fosters a lifetime of quality healthcare and financial security for all. We hope that our social justice values and the responsibility we take to operate a socially conscious organization aligns with your professional desire to contribute and serve with purpose.