Benefits Specialist - Hybrid

Summit School Services companies share a strong commitment to provide the highest level of transportation safety, quality transportation, outstanding customer service and positive employee relations. Our corporate headquarters, located in Warrenville, Illinois, houses the administrative and corporate support functions for the organization. Our 250+ local customer service centers (CSCs) are supported by regional operations teams located throughout North America.

The Benefits Specialist is responsible for the accurate, timely, and compliant administration of employee benefit programs across the organization. This position serves as a primary resource for employees, managers, payroll partners, vendors, and benefit carriers regarding eligibility, enrollment, claims, contributions, appeals, and other benefit-related matters.

The Benefits Specialist maintains employee benefit records, conducts recurring audits and reconciliations, supports benefit communications and education, and helps improve processes through documentation and automation. The position also assists the Benefits Director with plan renewals, implementations, plan changes, and the continued development of competitive and effective benefit programs.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Benefits Administration and Employee Support

• Administer employee benefit programs, including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, wellness programs, and other company-sponsored plans.
• Maintain accurate employee benefit records within employee files, HR information systems, benefit administration platforms, and related databases.
• Monitor and process employee and employer HSA contributions, identifying and resolving discrepancies as needed.
• Administer the company-sponsored 401(k) plan and support related employee, payroll, vendor, and compliance activities.
• Serve as the primary owner of the benefits email inbox and voicemail queue, ensuring questions and requests are acknowledged and resolved promptly.
• Use strong customer-service and analytical skills to investigate and resolve escalated benefit inquiries, enrollment problems, eligibility discrepancies, claims issues, and employee appeals.
• Coordinate with benefit carriers, third-party administrators, payroll partners, and internal stakeholders to resolve complex employee benefit matters.
• Process and administer Qualified Medical Child Support Orders, or QMCSOs, in accordance with applicable requirements.
• Manage and reconcile monthly benefit opt-outs, waivers, or comparable enrollment exceptions.
• Protect confidential employee, medical, financial, and benefit information at all times.

Auditing, Reconciliation, and Data Integrity

• Conduct weekly payroll-register audits to verify benefit deductions, contributions, eligibility, and enrollment accuracy.
• Complete and reconcile the weekly ADP bridge process between benefit and payroll systems.
• Audit demographic and eligibility files for errors, missing information, inconsistencies, and data-integrity concerns.
• Research discrepancies and coordinate corrections with payroll, HR, employees, benefit carriers, and system vendors.
• Perform union benefit audits and develop, maintain, and update the union benefit matrix.
• Maintain accurate supporting documentation and audit trails for benefit transactions, adjustments, and corrections.
• Consistently meet daily, weekly, monthly, and annual benefit-administration deadlines.

Communications and Employee Education

• Develop and distribute a monthly benefits newsletter containing benefit updates, reminders, deadlines, educational information, and wellness resources.
• Create clear employee communications, guides, presentations, and educational materials covering all benefit plan offerings.
• Conduct benefit webinars and orientation sessions for newly hired employees.
• Support employee education during open enrollment, new-plan implementations, qualifying life events, and benefit-plan changes.
• Communicate complex benefit information in an accurate, understandable, and employee-friendly manner.

Process Documentation and Improvement

• Develop, document, maintain, and update standard operating procedures for recurring benefit-administration activities.
• Identify opportunities to automate manual processes, reduce errors, strengthen controls, and improve the employee experience.
• Assist with testing, validating, and implementing benefit-system enhancements and workflow improvements.
• Support the Benefits Director in evaluating and improving existing benefit plans, administrative procedures, and service-delivery practices.
• Recommend practical improvements based on audit findings, employee inquiries, recurring errors, and operational trends.

Plan Management and Compliance

• Assist the Benefits Director with annual plan renewals, plan implementations, system setups, vendor transitions, and plan changes.
• Support benefit administration for employees located across multiple locations in the United States and Canada.
• Help ensure benefit plans are administered consistently with plan documents, company policies, collective bargaining requirements, and applicable laws.
• Maintain working knowledge of federal and state benefit regulations, including COBRA, FMLA, ERISA, HIPAA, and related requirements.
• Support required benefit notices, reporting, audits, recordkeeping, and compliance activities.
• Perform other benefit-related duties and projects as assigned.

The annual salary is $50,000-$60,000.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree, preferably in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
• Three to five years of experience administering group employee benefits.
• Experience working with medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability, FSA, and related benefit plans.
• Experience administering or supporting a company-sponsored 401(k) plan.
• Working knowledge of COBRA, FMLA, ERISA, HIPAA, and other applicable benefit-plan regulations.
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Access.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize multiple responsibilities and work effectively with limited direction.
• Strong attention to detail and a record of maintaining accurate employee and benefit data.
• Ability to consistently meet daily, weekly, monthly, and annual deadlines.
• Demonstrated discretion and sound judgment when handling confidential employee information.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, reconciliation, and customer-service skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting employees across multiple locations in North America.
• Experience administering both United States and Canadian benefit programs.
• Experience supporting union benefit plans and conducting union-related audits.
• Experience administering wellness programs.
• Experience using Oracle, ADP, or comparable HR, payroll, and benefit-administration systems.
• Experience developing employee benefit communications and conducting webinars.
• Experience documenting standard operating procedures and automating manual workflows.

Summit School Services has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with its policies and values, including sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. Summit School Services is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children and passengers.

We offer medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance coverage, holiday pay, and PTO accrual. Additionally, employees are able to enroll in a retirement savings plan.

At Summit School Services our goal is to be a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities we serve. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), national origin, age, physical and mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information (including characteristics and testing), military and veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Summit School Services LLC's independent subsidiaries and affiliates are an equal employment opportunity ( EE O) employer

The pay rate range, along with most all of the other terms and conditions of employment, vary between different sites, geographical markets, customer/ contractual terms and positions.