Compensation and Benefits Specialist (Open Competitive)

Salary : $53,108.00 - $61,347.00 Annually

Location : Buffalo, NY

Job Type : Full-Time

Job Number : 88630010

Department : HUMAN RESOURCES

Division : HR BENEFITS & MANAGEMENT

Opening Date : 02 / 18 / 2025

Closing Date : 3 / 10 / 2025 11 : 59 PM Eastern

Fee : $15.00

RESIDENCE : Residence is a requirement for all positions. In the absence of clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, an applicant shall be deemed a non-resident if he / she cannot show ninety (90) days of continuous and uninterrupted residence in the City of Buffalo prior to filing application.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT THE ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF BUFFALO MANDATE CONTINUOUS RESIDENCY IN THE CITY DURING YOUR EMPLOYMENT, EXCEPT FOR POSITIONS SPECIFICALLY EXEMPT UNDER STATE LAW.

FEE : WHERE INDICATED, A NON-REFUNDABLE APPLICATION PROCESSING FEE MUST ACCOMPANY YOUR APPLICATION VIA CHECK, CASH OR MONEY ORDER (If using check for payment, your check must clear to complete processing.)

Check with Civil Service office for fee waiver info.

Distinguishing Features of the Class

Compensation and Benefits Specialist #88630010 (Open Competitive)

Exam Date : April 5, 2025

Final Filing Date : March 10, 2025

An incumbent to a position in this class administers multiple benefits programs, including Worker's Compensation and Injured-On-Duty (for Police and Fire), for city employees / retirees as assigned. S / he interprets the provisions of labor contracts in relation to employee's fringe benefits and other terms and conditions of employment. The incumbent is in frequent oral and written communication with employees, management and vendors clarifying benefits and workers compensation / IOD claims. Incumbents maintain complex spreadsheets and databases for information using various computer software packages. Immediate supervision is received from the Director of Compensation and Benefits or a designee. No supervisory duties are exercised.

Examples of work (Illustration Only)

Worker's Compensation and Injured On-Duty IOD)

• Works with the City of Buffalo's third party administrator and fee scheduler and vendors for worker's compensation and IOD claims;
• Analyzes compensation claims to determine eligibility for benefits;
• investigates claims with the outside vendor and / or department supervisors, and ensures that interviews with claimants and witnesses are complete;
• interacts with contracted claims adjustment service in all compensation related matters;
• reviews and maintains reports from claims adjustment service to insure adequacy of service;
• Reviews worker's compensation and IOD fee scheduled statements received from third party administrator or fee scheduler for accuracy;
• Consults with outside medical personnel and the respective police or fire department to obtain all required progress notes, diagnosis and claim information;
• Reviews for accuracy and processes worker's compensation payroll data and submits to Division of Audit;
• assures payment checks are sent to injured employees;
• Coordinates claims processing and payroll information with other departments;
• Coordinates with worker's compensation third party administrators and department heads for return to work and light duty assignments;

Performs related duties as required.

Benefits

Performs related duties as required.

Review of Bills, Reporting, etc.

Ensures census is up-to-date for all carriers i.e. addresses, etc.

Performs related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

A) Bachelor's Degree from a college or university accredited by a regional, national, or specialized agency recognized as an accrediting agency by the U.S. Department of Education / U.S. Secretary of Education, and one year of full-time qualifying experience

B) Associate's Degree from a college or university accredited by a regional, national, or specialized agency recognized as an accrediting agency by the U.S. Department of Education / U.S. Secretary of Education, and three years of full-time qualifying experience

C) Graduation from High School, GED or Equivalency Diploma and five years of full-time qualifying experience

D) An equivalent combination as defined within the limits of A, B and C.

Must be full-time experience in a benefits department of a company of at least 200 employees, with a full range of employee benefits that includes employee counseling and processing worker's compensation, health insurance, life insurance, retirement benefits, vacation, sick, etc.

Note : Verifiable part-time experience will be pro-rated to meet full-time experience requirements. Proof of education must be presented at time of application.

SUBJECT OF EXAMINATION - Written Test..........Relative Weight 100%

EXAMINATION WILL TEST FOR KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND / OR ABILITIES IN SUCH AREAS AS :

1. Advising and interacting with others

2. Preparing written material

3. Understanding and interpreting tabular material

4. Understanding and interpreting written material based on laws, policies, and procedures relating to health insurance and other employee benefits

THE USE OF A CALCULATOR IS RECOMMENDED FOR THIS EXAMINATION

NOTE : The use a hand-held, battery- or solar- powered calculator is RECOMMENDED for this exam. Devices with typewriter keyboards, spell checkers, personal digital assistants, address books, language translators, dictionaries, cell phones or any similar devices are prohibited. You may not bring books or other reference material. Cell phones and any other electronic devices are also prohibited.

Additional Information

EXPANDED SUBTEST DESCRIPTION :

1.) Advising and interacting with others

These questions test for the ability to interact with other people in order to gather and present information and to provide assistance and advice in a courteous and professional manner.

2.) Preparing written material

These questions test for the ability to present information clearly and accurately, and to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given paragraphs with their sentences out of order. You must then choose, from four suggestions, the best order for the sentences.

3.) Understanding and interpreting tabular material

These questions test your ability to understand, analyze, and use the internal logic of data presented in tabular form. You may be asked to perform tasks such as completing tables, drawing conclusions from them, analyzing data trends or interrelationships, and revising or combining data sets. The concepts of rate, ratio, and proportion are tested. Mathematical operations are simple, and computational speed is not a major factor in the test. You should bring with you a hand-held battery- or solar-powered calculator for use on this test. You will not be permitted to use the calculator function of your cell phone .

4.) Understanding and interpreting written material based on laws, policies, and procedures relating to health insurance and other employee benefits

These questions test the ability to read, interpret, and apply these laws, policies, and procedures. You will be provided with brief reading selections, each followed by one or more questions. All information needed to answer the questions is contained in the reading selections. No prior knowledge is required.

Test Guide :

The New York State Department of Civil Service has not prepared a test guide for this examination. However, candidates may find information in the publication 'General Guide to Written Test' helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available online at :

This written exam is being prepared and rated by the N.Y.S. Department of Civil Service in accordance with Section 23-2 of the Civil Service Law, and the provisions of the N.Y.S. Civil service Rules and Regulations dealing with the rating and review of exams apply.

If not attached, expanded subtest descriptions may be obtained from the Civil Service office, Room 1001 City Hall.)

The eligible list resulting from this exam may be used to fill comparable positions.)

MULTIPLE EXAMINATIONS SCHEDULED FOR THE SAME DAY :

If you have applied to take a written test announced by either one or several local jurisdictions (county, town, city) scheduled to be held on the same date as this written test, you must notify each of the local jurisdictions no later than two weeks before the test date, so they can make arrangements for taking all tests atone site. All examinations for positions in State government will be held at a State examination center.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT EXAMS notify each civil service agency to make arrangements no later than two weeks before test date. You must notify each agency with whom you have filed. For this information, notify the Department of Human Resources, Division of Civil Service, Room 1001 City Hall, Buffalo, New York 14202 or call or come to the Office.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING WEATHER CONDITIONS ON THE DAY OF THE EXAMINATION - In the event of severe weather conditions on the day of the examination, please listen to the following tv / radio stations for postponement or delay in the starting time of the administration of the examination : WBEN 550, WGR 930, WWW145.., WWKB 1520 -AM RADIO; WKSE 98.5, WLKK 102.5, WTSS 107.7 FM RADIO OR WIBT-TV (CH. 4). If no such announcement is made, you must presume that the examination will be administered as scheduled.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR USE OF VETERAN'S CREDITS

If you are currently serving on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States, you may apply for veteran's credits. These veteran's credits shall be granted on a conditional basis at time of establishment of the eligible list. You will be restricted from certification using these credits until you have received an honorable discharge or release under honorable conditions. Your DD214 must be presented as proof of service during war time, before you can be certified for appointment from the eligible list

using these credits.

Special Requirement for Appointment in School Districts and BOCES

Per Chapter 180 of the Laws of 2000, and by Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, to be employed in a position designated by a school district or BOCES as involving direct contact with students, a clearance for employment from the State Education Department is required.

NOTICE TO EXAM PARTICIPANTS :

Additional Points Available to Children of Police Officers and Firefighters Killed in the Line of Duty (New Section 85-a, NYS Civil Service Law, effective 9 / 17 / 02)

On September 17, 2002, Governor Pataki signed into law a bill adding a new section 85-a to the Civil Service Law granting additional credit on civil service examinations for children of firefighters and police officers killed in the line of duty. This law is to take effect immediately.

In conformance with Section 85-a of the Civil Service Law, children of firefighters and police officers killed in the line of duty shall be entitled to receive an additional ten points in a competitive examination for original appointment in the same municipality in which his or her parent has served. If you are qualified to participate in this examination and are a child of a firefighter or police officer killed in the line of duty in this municipality, please inform this office of this matter when you submit your application for examination. A candidate claiming such credit has a minimum of two months from the application deadline to provide the necessary documentation to verify additional credit eligibility. However, no credit may be added after the eligible list has been established."

Applicants claiming these points must do so in writing (you may enclose in application), indicating the name, title, relationship and place of employment of the deceased parent.

Eligibility for points will be reviewed and applicants may be required to submit additional information to verify the claim.

Additional points available to siblings of Firefighters and Police Officers killed in the line of duty as the result of the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center Attack (Chapter 500, Laws of New York 2003).

For more information, check with the Department of Human Resources, Civil Service Office.

The City of Buffalo's benefit package is designed to give our employees and their love one's, comfort, safety, and stability they need in serving our community each and every day.

Our offerings include :

Salary : $53,108 - $61,347