Leave of Absence & Workers’ Compensation Partner

The Leave of Absence (LOA) & Workers’ Compensation Partner is responsible for overseeing, designing, and evaluating the company’s leaves of absence and workers’ compensation programs to ensure a consistent, employee-focused experience. This role manages compliance with federal, state, and local regulations and serves as a primary point of contact for employees, managers, vendors, and internal HR partners throughout the entire leave lifecycle—from intake through return to work. In this role, they will collaborate closely with the Benefits team and partner with a fellow LOA administrator to drive timely, accurate, and highly coordinated leave administration in a high-volume, detail-driven environment. Success in this role requires independent judgment, exceptional follow-through, and a strong sense of urgency, particularly where leave processes intersect with payroll, benefits, vendor systems, and operational workforce needs. Essential Job Functions: Leave of Absence & ADA Oversight Oversee the full end-to-end lifecycle of all leave of absence programs, including FMLA, ADA, state/local, personal, and disability, ensuring absolute compliance with the changing regulatory framework. Manages complex interactive processes for accommodations, evaluating medical documentation and advising operational leadership on return-to-work timelines, restrictions, and business impact. Collaborates strategically with the Benefits team and fellow LOA administrator to ensure seamless, uniform application of leave policies across the organization. Directs the fiscal and structural alignment of leave impact with payroll, active benefits billing, and paid time off (PTO)/ sick leave accrual integration. Workers’ Compensation Management & Risk Mitigation Directs and manages all workers’ compensation claims from intake through final closure, serving as the Company’s key representative to insurance carriers, medical providers, and legal counsel. Evaluates workplace incident reports to determine liability risks, coordinates detailed claim investigations, and independently authorizes formal organizational submissions. Designs and executes modified-duty and return-to-work programs, partnering with operational leadership to accommodate restrictions while minimizing organizational downtime and indemnity costs. Analyzes historical claims data to identify injury trends, presenting strategic risk mitigation and safety recommendations to leadership. Cross-Functional Alignment & Strategic Operation Partner as subject matter expert with Payroll, Benefits, and Operations teams to engineer seamless data handoffs, aligned communication, and swift resolution of leave-related impacts. Proactively advises department/ site leaders on impending leave changes, regulatory adjustments, and workforce impacts to prevent downstream payroll or compliance issues. Consults directly with operational leaders to analyze, forecast, and manage workforce coverage in a logistics-driven environment. Benefits Integration & Complex Case Management Manage and resolve complex leave and non-standard leave scenarios involving intricate benefit deductions, premium payments, arrears, and coordination of PTO or sick pay and multi-tiered integrations of state disability. Establishes and applies consistent decision-making frameworks for non-standard scenarios and ensures alignment across Payroll and Benefits. Counsel employees clearly understand their benefits obligations, options, and corporate policy expectations while on leave. Vendor Management and Evaluation Serves as the principal liaison for third-party administrators to ensure vendor execution remains strictly aligned with contractual service level agreements, regulatory standards, and corporate compliance. Audits and identifies gaps in vendor workflows, driving continuous process improvements to optimize employee experience. Evaluates vendor performance, negotiates operational processes, and recommends the selection or termination of third-pa…