L&I Workers' Adjudicator - Unit Lead​/Wage Specialist

OR

Equivalent education/experience.

Keep Washington Safe and Working!

Customer Focus, One L&I, Respect, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Learning and Growth, Reliability

The Department of Labor and Industries is seeking a Workers’ Compensation Adjudicator 4 (WCA4), Unit Lead Wage Specialist, to join our team in the Self Insurance Program within our Insurance Services Division.

In this position, you will serve as a technical resource to the unit Claims Supervisor, unit staff, and the self‑insured community on complex wage and claim issues. You will make recommendations to the Director for discretionary items and perform quality reviews of adjudicative actions of internal staff to ensure decisions are based on rules, regulations and laws.

This position directly supports the agency mission by reducing the economic hardship to injured workers and self‑insured employers by adjudicating benefit requests within the program’s performance measurements and expectations.

The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) is a diverse state agency dedicated to the safety, health, and security of Washington’s workers. We help employers meet safety and health standards and inspect workplaces when alerted to hazards. As administrators of the state’s workers’ compensation system, we are similar to a large insurance company providing medical and limited wage‑replacement coverage to workers who suffer job‑related injuries and illness.

Our rules and enforcement programs also help ensure workers are paid what they are owed, that children’s and teens’ work hours are limited, and that consumers are protected from unsound business practices.

Insurance Services is the largest division within the agency and administers one of the premier workers’ compensation organizations in the nation serving over 3.8 million employees working for 260,000 employers.

The Insurance Services Self‑Insurance program is dedicated to supporting employers and protecting workers by providing impartial oversight and timely, expert services to all employers in Washington State that elect to administer and pay their own workers’ compensation claims.

• Ability to effectively communicate complex information clearly and succinctly in a way that is easy to understand for a variety of audiences both orally and in written format.
• Ability to review, independently interpret, analyze, and apply specialized program policies and procedures to draw sound conclusions and make recommendations and decisions based on data.
• Strong customer service skills with the ability to authentically listen and collaborate with others from diverse backgrounds to build and maintain internal and external customer satisfaction.
• Demonstrated critical thinking and analytical skills.
• Ability to effectively organize multiple assignments and remain focused on priorities and progress to produce work products that are accurate, thorough and on time.
• Demonstrated ability to build rapport and partner with others to contribute to respectful working relationships and team cohesion.
• Knowledge and experience of Washington’s Workers’ Compensation claims management processes and calculating wages for injured workers.
• Ability to coach and mentor others to ensure consistent interpretation of policies, procedures and laws and work products comply with production and quality standards.

• Manages and adjudicates a caseload of complex protests made by injured workers, physicians, self‑insured employers or their attorneys, from decisions involving entitlement to benefits, jurisdictional matters, and contested determinations.
• Issues legal orders resolving protests and composes letters of explanation.
• Gather…