County of Alameda

Fire Department Benefits Specialist (#8189)

Unit: Unrep - Fire Clerical (074)
$39.99-$49.09 Hourly / $3,199.20-$3,927.20 BiWeekly /
$6,931.60-$8,508.93 Monthly / $83,179.20-$102,107.20 Yearly

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DESCRIPTION

Under general supervision, performs employee benefits duties for the Alameda County Fire Department (ACFD) human resources division. The areas of responsibility include conducting employee orientations, enrolling, and providing on-going assistance to ACFD employees and retirees with insurance plans and benefits that include health, dental and vision plans, life insurance, flexible spending accounts, and deferred compensation; monitors benefit payments for employees; and performs other related duties as required.

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES

The Fire Department Benefits Specialist is a non-safety classification located within the ACFD and reports to the Fire Department Human Resources Manager. This paraprofessional classification focuses primarily on benefit services to ACFD employees and is responsible for performing complex administration duties requiring the exercise of initiative and judgement beyond that of a journey-level clerical classification. The classification of Fire Department Benefits Specialist is distinguished from the Specialist Clerk classification in that the former is working predominantly in benefit duties while the latter focuses on clerical duties.

EXAMPLES OF DUTIES

NOTE: The following are typical duties performed by employees in this classification. Employees may not necessarily perform all duties listed; however, they may perform other related duties at an equivalent level.

Administers and conducts new employee orientations; explains employment and benefit policies and programs; distributes, collects and processes all information pertaining to employment including all benefits and governmental forms and optional deductions; administers the COBRA program for the ACFD; enrolls new employees and maintains employee updates in various Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS), insurance, and California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) retirement and medical plans, and other optional insurance plans.
Administers, calculates, and prepares payment for all employee benefits including medical, dental, life insurance, employee assistance program, vision, flexible spending accounts, cafeteria plan and other optional items ensuring accuracy; monitors for employee leaves as it relates to benefits billing; processes retroactive benefit adjustments and ensures correct employee benefit payments.
Acts as liaison between benefit providers and employees to provide information about benefit plans and programs, resolves problems and coordinates benefit changes; administers open enrollment; responds to requests for personnel and employment information; arranges for representatives from providers to make presentations to employees and provides explanations of the Department’s benefits policies and procedures.
Analyzes, researches, and resolves routine to complex problems involving benefit accounts, eligibility, enrollment, premiums, data, and system issues.
Creates employee personnel, benefit, payroll, and medical files for new employees and maintains records including employee contact information, historical files, salary adjustments, confidential files, separated employee files, and various other employment records. Ensures confidentiality of information is maintained according to applicable laws, rules, regulations, and administrative orders.
Provides information to employees, retirees and retiree-survivors on the applicable laws, policies, rules, and regulations concerning the benefits plans and programs ensuring complete confidentiality.
Prepares, analyzes, and manipulates a large variety of statistical and analytical data for reports and queries; creates, updates, and processes various employee human resource-related communications and forms.
Reviews, validates, and processes benefits documents and reports, ensure all employees are enrolled in the correct benefits plans, corrects errors, monitors workflow to ensure transactions are entered into the applicable HRIS systems in a timely manner.
Regularly reviews employee benefit administration related processes and procedures and recommends appropriate changes to improve service delivery.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

EITHER I

Experience:

The equivalent of two (2) years of full-time experience in the classification of Fire Department Human Resources Technician or Human Resources Technician in the County of Alameda classified service.

OR II

Experience:

The equivalent of three (3) years of full-time experience providing administrative support in a human resources, finance, or benefit administration environment which must have included working with a computerized human resource system, databases, and spreadsheets. Experience within CalPERS retirement and benefit administration is highly desirable.

Substitution:

Possession of an associate’s degree from an accredited college or university in human resources administration, business or public administration, finance, accounting or a closely related field can be substituted for one (1) year of the required experience. Possession of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in human resources administration, business or public administration, finance, accounting, or a closely related field can be substituted for two (2) years of the required experience.

License:

Possession of a valid State of California Motor Vehicle Operator’s License.

NOTE: The Civil Service Commission may modify the above Minimum Qualifications in the announcement of an examination.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

NOTE: The level and scope of the following knowledge and abilities are related to duties listed under the "Examples of Duties" section of this specification.

Knowledge of:

Laws, regulations, and procedures related to employee benefit programs.
Principles and practices of employee benefits enrollment processing and administration.
General principles and practices of employee payroll processing.
Current trends in employee benefit rules, regulations, and practices.
Principles and practices of effective and efficient customer service.
Extensive knowledge of modern office practices and procedures including filing and the operations of standard office equipment and computer hardware and software.
Administration of the benefits programs from California Public Employees' Retirement System.

Ability to:

Interpret, explain, and apply administrative guidelines, regulations, and policies and procedures related to employee benefit programs.
Gather and evaluate relevant information in researching and resolving benefit-related issues.
Establish and maintain effective working relationships with internal and external customers and vendors.
Prioritize tasks and perform detailed work accurately within established timeframe.
Review documents for completeness, accuracy, appropriate authorization, and compliance.
Maintain accurate records including spreadsheets, information system databases and files.
Maintain confidentiality of employee benefit records and reports.
Perform various mathematical computations related to rates, premiums, refunds, deductions, and contributions.
Use and design spreadsheet applications to automate work processes.

CLASS SPEC HISTORY

NewSpec 8189

RE:sa 04/08/2021

CSC Date: 04/21/2021

ACFD Class Study: Revised 04/29/26

CSC Date:5/13/26

BENEFITS

The County offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that affords wide-ranging health care options to meet the different needs of a diverse workforce and their families. We also sponsor many employee discount, fitness and health screening programs focused on overall wellbeing. These benefits include but are not limited to*:

For your Health & Well-Being

Medical – HMO & PPO Plans
Dental – HMO & PPO Plans
Vision or Vision Reimbursement
Share the Savings
Basic Life Insurance
Supplemental Life Insurance (with optional dependent coverage for eligible employees)
Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance
County Allowance Credit
Flexible Spending Accounts - Health FSA, Dependent Care and Adoption Assistance
Short-Term Disability Insurance
Long-Term Disability Insurance
Voluntary Benefits - Accident Insurance, Critical Illness, Long-Term Care, Hospital Indemnity and Legal Services
Employee Assistance Program

For your Financial Future

Retirement Plan - (Defined Benefit Pension Plan)
Deferred Compensation Plan (457 Plan or Roth Plan)

For your Work/Life Balance

12 paid holidays
Floating Holidays
Vacation and sick leave accrual
Vacation purchase program
Catastrophic Sick Leave
Pet Insurance
Commuter Benefits Program
Guaranteed Ride Home
Employee Wellness Program (e.g. At Work Fitness, Incentive Based Programs, Gym Membership Discounts)
Employee Discount Program (e.g. theme parks, cell phone, etc.)
Child Care Resources
1st United Services Credit Union

*Eligibility is determined by Alameda County and offerings may vary by collective bargaining agreement. This provides a summary of the benefits offered and can be subject to change.