Senior Benefits & Leave Specialist

**Senior Benefits & Leave Specialist** *Rochester, NH – Full Time* **About our energy** Family owned and operated for more than 90 years, Eastern is a full-service propane and oil company serving New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont. We are proudly ranked as a gold level status for Veteran friendly employers. We’ve been voted as one of New Hampshire's "Best Places to Work" in the Manchester Radio Group's #bestofthe603 and we are pleased to offer employment opportunities throughout New England. Joining Eastern means you’re part of a supportive and family focused culture. **Why choose Eastern?** 1. Extensive benefits including 100% paid insurance options 2. Matched 401(k) options 3. Employee & family fuel discounts for your home 4. State of the art Training Center 5. 3.5 Weeks paid time off + 7 paid holidays 6. Veteran’s Day paid holiday for active military and veterans 7. Opportunity for growth 8. Complimentary coffee, snacks, and Thanksgiving turkey 9. Shortened summer hours – full pay, shorter days 10. Wellness reimbursement (gym, exercise classes, and more) 11. Tuition reimbursement 12. Additional voluntary benefits 13. Pet insurance **About this opportunity** The Senior Benefits & Leave Specialist is responsible for delivering a concierge-level employee experience while performing day-to-day benefits administration. This role serves as a trusted guide and advocate for employees navigating complex benefits and leave of absence programs by providing personalized support, clear communication, and compassionate guidance at every stage of the leave journey. The Senior Benefits Specialist is responsible for ensuring our benefits align with Eastern’s goals, are comprehensive and competitive, and comply with all federal and state laws and regulations. **What your role will look like** - Administer and serve as the primary point of contact for all employee benefits, including health, dental, life, and disability. - Provide responsive, concierge-level support to employees with benefits questions and related inquiries. - Administer benefit plan enrollment, maintenance, changes, and terminations. Process required documents through payroll and insurance carriers and other providers to ensure accurate enrollment and administration, billing, recordkeeping, and payroll deductions. - Manage and administer leaves of absence and requests for accommodations, including communicating and collaborating with employees, managers, insurance carriers, benefit providers, third party administrators, and state agencies. - Ensure employees are informed and supported throughout a leave of absence from initial inquiry through return to work. - Coordinate and track workers’ compensation claims involving lost time, proactively maintaining timely communication with employees, managers, and third-party administrators. - Advise employees and managers on policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements regarding benefits and leaves of absence. - Ensure benefit plans and leaves of absence, and the administration of benefits and leaves of absence, comply with applicable federal and state legal requirements including ERISA, ACA, HIPAA, and COBRA. Continuously stay well-informed of legal and regulatory developments relating to benefits and leaves of absence. - Maintain all plan and other benefit documents for compliance, accuracy, and distribution, and ensure plan provisions are followed. Comply with accompanying reporting requirements. - Develop and maintain relationships with employees and managers. Maintain employee and manager confidence and trust by being a knowledgeable and prompt advisor and resource. Protect sensitive and confidential information with discretion and professionalism. - Develop, prepare, generate, and analyze reports relating to benefits, leaves of absence, and other ad-hoc reports as needed. - Evaluate and monitor benefit offerings to ensure they are cost-effective and competitive. Analyze utilization data, identif…