Injury & Illness Specialist at Rivian Illinois

Role Summary

The Injury and Illness Specialist is part of the People Team as part of our People Operations and is primarily responsible for providing Leave of Absence, Workers' Compensation, ADA support, and Return to Work assistance to employees. The position serves as a main point of contact for employees and helps them navigate the third‑party vendor services for leave, workers' compensation, ADA and return to work for employees.

• First point of contact for all disability, ADA, and workers’ compensation inquiries.
• Coordinate employees through the entirety of the injury, leave of absence, and/or accommodations process, maintaining key levels of documentation, transparency, and empathy.
• Assist and act as the primary point of contact for injured employees as it relates to transitional work coordination, intervention, employee engagement, and communication with all stakeholders.
• Counsel all stakeholders on compliance with Company policies and simple topics related to Federal, State, and Company Leaves of Absence as well as Company Paid Disability Programs, ADA, and Workers’ Compensation.
• Refer employees to the third‑party vendors responsible for managing leaves, Worker’s Compensation, or other teams within the Employee Benefits department as needed.
• Audit internal and external reporting and data feeds daily to ensure status updates, including a return to work, have occurred timely and accurately.
• Conduct research and troubleshooting/root cause analysis with third‑party and/or internal stakeholders as necessary.
• Research and respond to all Worker’s Compensation, Disability, ADA, and Leave questions within the ticketing system as they relate to timekeeping/payroll and act as a liaison between employee, HRBP, and Payroll when escalation is required.
• Act as point of contact for the third‑party leave and disability vendor operations, business, and employee to resolve any data discrepancies, including verifying the last day worked, hours worked during a specific period, eligibility verifications, earnings, and other data necessary for a third‑party vendor to process Disability, LOA or WC.
• Maintain access to the third‑party leave and disability vendor system, including case notes to facilitate simple issue resolution.
• Act as liaison for field HR Business Partners for training on access to the third‑party vendor website/portal.
• Engage in ongoing team meetings to ensure open dialogue of issues coming into the team so any adjustments in process or communications can be made.
• Manage and maintain confidential employee data residing in the database and third‑party website/portal.
• Coordinate between third‑party vendors and Worker’s Compensation vendors for Workers’ Compensation leaves.
• Counsel employees transitioning to Long Term Disability, including advising on Extended Benefits Leave eligibility/entitlement, potential impact to company‑provided benefits, Disability Pay, etc.
• Partner with vendors for information regarding restrictive work.
• Support day‑to‑day, return to work operations and documentation management for workers’ compensation, leave of absence, ADA, and OSHA recordkeeping.
• Maintain accurate records for restriction management through Guidepost and Workday, safeguarding confidentiality of medical information and complying with ADA laws.
• Partner cross‑functionally with Employee Experience Partners, managers, and Employment Legal throughout the interactive process.
• Initiate interactive process for Employees who have exhausted all statutory and federal job protection.
• Review and analyze medical documentation to understand restrictions and assess whether they are reasonable and necessary, including evaluation of undue hardship and following up on accommodations.
• Confirm essential job functions and feasibility of work with accommodations with managers.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, or a related field; or equivalent experience preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in Human Resources or a closely related field.
• Hands‑on experience with Workday, including reporting and HR process navigation.
• Experience with Service Now (or similar case/ticket…