Employee Benefits Specialist

As children, most people dream about jobs that have clout and cachet, like Actor, Musician, and President of the United States. When they become adults, however, what people crave most in a position isn’t prestige; often, it’s a decent salary and a good benefits package.

As an Employee Benefits Specialist, or Benefits Manager, you deliver on the dream of good benefits. Hired by companies to work in their human resources and/or finance departments, Employee Benefits Specialists are charged with designing, negotiating, and administering employee benefits programs, focusing most often on health benefits, including medical, dental, and vision insurance; retirement benefits, including defined benefit pension plans and defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) plans, as well as profit-sharing and stock ownership plans; and other miscellaneous benefits, such as life insurance, disability insurance, parental leave, relocation benefits, vacation benefits, and wellness programs, among others.

On a daily basis, your duties as an Employee Benefits Specialist include: haggling with benefits vendors and providers; educating, advising, and informing employees who have questions about benefits packages; enrolling new hires in benefits programs; preparing and filing benefits paperwork; calculating and analyzing benefits costs; resolving benefits-related disputes with employees and/or providers; and managing compliance with relevant government regulations, which often dictate what benefits companies must offer and to whom.

Despite its tactical nature, your job is just as strategic as it is administrative. After all, companies’ benefits packages help them compete for new employees, retain top performers, and stimulate workforce productivity. By helping it offer the best benefits at the lowest cost, therefore, you’re doing your part to make your company as healthy as its staff is!