Leave and Claims Manager

Dobbs Truck Group operates commercial truck dealerships through Dobbs Peterbilt and Western Truck Center. The company represents leading commercial truck brands and serves customers across Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington.

The Benefits, Leave and Claims Manager leads the administration and continuous improvement of the Company's employee benefits, leave of absence, workplace accommodation, and workers' compensation programs. This position provides hands-on oversight of daily operations, supervises one employee, serves as the primary subject matter expert for complex and escalated matters, and ensures programs are administered accurately, consistently, timely, and in accordance with applicable federal and state requirements.

The position partners closely with employees, managers, HR Business Partners, Payroll, Finance, brokers, carriers, third-party administrators, medical providers, safety partners, and legal counsel.

The duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position.

• Lead the benefits, leave, workplace accommodation, and workers' compensation function by establishing priorities, service standards, procedures, controls, and accountability for timely and accurate execution.
• Supervise, coach, develop, and evaluate one direct report; assign work, monitor quality and deadlines, provide guidance on complex matters, and ensure appropriate cross-training and coverage.
• Serve as the escalation point and subject matter expert for complex employee, manager, claim, eligibility, vendor, and compliance matters.

• Manage the administration of health and welfare, retirement, wellness, and related benefit programs, including eligibility, enrollment, life events, terminations, deductions, billing, and employee inquiries.
• Lead annual open enrollment, including planning, system configuration and testing, employee communications, education, issue resolution, and post-enrollment audits.
• Partner with brokers, carriers, vendors, Payroll, Finance, and HRIS administrators to resolve discrepancies and ensure benefit elections, payroll deductions, invoices, and eligibility files are accurate and reconciled.
• Support benefit renewals, plan design reviews, vendor evaluations, implementation projects, and employee education by analyzing utilization, cost, service, and market information.
• Oversee required notices, plan documents, audits, testing, reporting, and records associated with benefit programs, including COBRA, ERISA, HIPAA, ACA, and other applicable requirements.

• Oversee the full leave lifecycle, including intake, eligibility determination, required notices, certification, designation, payroll and benefit coordination, status tracking, return-to-work planning, and case closure.
• Administer federal, state, and local leave programs and company-provided leaves consistently across the organization, including FMLA and applicable state paid and protected leave programs.
• Lead the interactive process for disability, pregnancy, religious, and other workplace accommodation requests in partnership with employees, managers, HR Business Partners, and legal counsel as appropriate.
• Review complex or overlapping leave and accommodation matters, evaluate documentation, identify compliance risks, and guide leaders on appropriate and consistent next steps.

• Manage workers' compensation claims from initial report through closure, ensuring prompt reporting, appropriate investigation, accurate documentation, employee communication, and coordination with carriers, third-party administrators, medical providers, managers, and safety partners.
• Monitor claim activity, reserves, treatment progress, work status, litigation, and costs; conduct regular claim reviews and escape significant exposure, delays, or concerns.
• Coordinate transitional duty and return-to-work efforts, including review of restrictions, identification of appropriate temporary assignments, and ongoing communication with the employee and management.
• Partner with Safety and operational leaders to identify injury trends, support root-cause reviews, strengthen prevention efforts, and reduce claim frequency,…