HR Protected Leave Specialist | Washington State

Job title: HR Protected Leave Specialist

Company: Washington State

Job description: DescriptionHR Protected Leave Specialist
At the we strive to be creative, collaborative, and trusted. We identify opportunities to deliver critical funding and services to strengthen communities and aim to promote equity in all aspects of our work. We believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce is essential to our success, and we work to foster an environment where all individuals are valued and respected. We cultivate an environment in which we continuously learn, and we own our work.We invite all candidates to join us in our mission to create a diverse and equitable workplace that reflects the richness of the communities we serve. Together, we can build a brighter and more inclusive future.This is your opportunity to be part of a dynamic team delivering high quality technical, and professional, HR expertise in the area of protected leave. At Commerce, we believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce is essential to our success, and we work to foster an environment where all individuals are valued and respected. If you are excited about this role but you believe that your education and/or experience might not align perfectly with every qualification in the job posting, we encourage you to apply anyway.This position is responsible for agency-wide protected leave practices, including Reasonable Accommodation (RA), Shared Leave, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Washington’s Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) program, Worker’s Compensation and other protected leave matters.This position will serve as the agency’s Protected Leave Subject Matter Expert (SME) on the HR team and will work directly with employees, supervisors, managers and appointing authorities regarding all protected leave matters. This position will work under the direction of the HR Deputy Director to implement protected leave matters across the agency, in alignment with state laws, rules, and agency policy.Here is some of what you’ll do:

• Develop, implement, and review leave policies, procedures, guidelines documents, letters and templates to ensure compliance with state and federal leave laws, rules, agency policies, and the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
• Partner with agency leadership to align leave management strategy to agency’s mission by analyzing trends, metrics and law to develop short and long term strategic solutions and policy.
• Managing, and making significant recommendations for the implementation of state and federal laws and rules related to protected leave, including reasonable accommodation, domestic violence , FMLA (to include 2nd and 3rd opinion process), Shared Leave, PFML, Pregnancy & Parental leave, and other Washington State leave laws, based on advanced knowledge and expertise.
• Managing all aspects of the interactive Reasonable Accommodation (RA) process.
• Managing Worker’s Compensation processing, tracking and reporting, including the Labor and Industries (L&I) annual report.
• Provide expert level consultation, guidance, advice, interpretation and counsel to Commerce leadership and internal HR members on applicable human resource rules, regulations, policies and procedures, federal and state laws related to the most complex leave management issues within Commerce, to ensure compliance and reduce risk to the agency.

Required Qualifications:A total combination of seven years of education and/or experience with a focus on business, human resources, social or organizational behavioral sciences.
Seven years of professional human resource experience which includes three or more years of broad-based professional human resource experience, including facilitating organizational development or change, and advising and consulting on human resource issues;
OR
A total combination of seven years of education and experience that is comprised of up to four years of formal education beyond high school equivalence with a focus on business, human resources, or social or organizational behavioral sciences, and three or more years of broad-based professional human resource experience, including facilitating organizational development or change, and advising and consulting on human resource issues.Two years of the professional human resource experience must include at least three or more of the following:

• Shared leave administration
• FMLA administration
• PFML consultations
• Management of the interactive Reasonable Accommodation (RA) process, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Consulting and advising management on protective leave issues
• Consulting on complex cases with multiple issues – cases could involve several of the following: FMLA, PFML, reasonable accommodation, domestic violence, performance issues, Shared Leave, work-related injury, and complaints (Internal, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Human Rights Commission (HRC), and/or lawsuits

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Competencies:

• Ability to learn and understand the language and concepts of our Commerce equity & belonging culture and commit to being a part of creating and maintaining a diverse, equitable, respectful and inclusive workplace.
• Ability to demonstrate a commitment to growth, learning and self-awareness when provided training and opportunities to participate in improving our work environment.
• Participate and behave in a manner that creates trust and builds working relationships, promoting teamwork and collaboration in the work environment.
• Demonstrate the understanding that all people are valued; contribute to an equitable, inclusive and respectful environment when working with members of the group, team, organization or community.
• Commit to being an active participant in continually evaluating and improving strategies that promote equity and inclusion in our organization.

Desired Qualifications:

• Knowledge of WAC, RCW, Collective Bargaining Agreement, and policies related to employee leave and federal and state of Washington leave laws.
• Highly skilled in providing verbal and written guidance to diverse audiences.
• Experience providing advice and options to resolve highly complex employment related issues.
• Demonstrate critical thinking.
• Experience utilizing effective and appropriate independent judgement.
• Experience developing and delivering human resource related trainings, in alignment with assigned SME area.
• Ability to prioritize and effectively manage multiple tasks, deadlines and projects.
• Experience developing and maintaining effective and professional working relationships with a wide variety of individuals at all levels of the organization.
• Ability to track, and use, data for short and long term planning and communicating performance and results.

To be considered for this position the following are needed:

• A complete and detailed online application.
• At least three (3) professional references (enter online).

For questions about this recruitment, please contact our recruitment team via email: , please reference the job number in your message.Supplemental InformationWork From Anywhere In Washington State
This position may be located anywhere within Washington State, though occasional travel to a Commerce office building or in-state travel to attend events or meetings may be required. If selected, you will need to travel to pick up equipment and receive instruction. Many Commerce employees work remote or have a hybrid schedule. However, it is anticipated that interviews for this position will be held using virtual videoconferencing. You will work with your supervisor to identify an appropriate work schedule and balance, including telework and reporting to a duty station for work activities, if needed.This recruitment may be used to fill future vacancies over the next 60 days.Our Commitment to Equal Opportunity:
The Washington State Department of Commerce is an equal opportunity employer. We strive to create a working environment that includes and respects cultural, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and gender identity diversity. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons of disability, persons over 40 years of age, veterans or people with military status, and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities are encouraged to apply. Persons needing accommodation in the application, testing, or interview process or this job announcement in an alternative format may email Human Resources at Human.Resources@commerce.wa.gov. Applicants who are deaf or hard of hearing may call through the Washington Relay Service by dialing 7-1-1 or 1-800-833-6388.Department of Commerce also offers a competitive benefits package including medical and dental insurance benefits, retirement and deferred compensation plans, 11 paid holidays each year, 14-25 vacation days per year (depending on length of employment), 8 hours of sick leave per month (if full time employed), bereavement leave, an employee assistance program, as well as other benefits. Please see the Benefits Tab for more details.

Expected salary: $72924 – 98040 per year

Location: USA

Job date: Tue, 20 Aug 2024 23:32:07 GMT

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