The LOA Manager oversees and manages the day-to-day administration of Harbor Freight’s leave of absence teams and processes. The LOA Manager leads the LOA Specialists and Coordinators, ensuring that all deadlines are met, including but not limited to email replies, ADA and LOA tasks completion, HRIS reporting. In addition, the LOA Manager will provide recommendations to the Director of Total Rewards on streamline opportunities. The LOA Manager serves as the subject matter expert for all LOA programs and serves as the point of contact for leadership and Legal on escalated matters and policy interpretation.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Oversees administration of federal, state, local and company leave of absence policies and short-term and long-term disability programs including eligibility, intake, case management, return-to-work, issue resolution, escalations and vendor management
• Hire, trains and develops the LOA Specialists and Coordinator.
• Leads the LOA Specialists and Coordinator by providing tasks, monitoring performance, region and department distribution and personal development plans.
• Scripts policies and procedures for LOA program and process.
• Leads the LOA committee meeting
• Interprets and clarifies HFT LOA policies to address inquiries from associates, managers, and HR partners
• Manages service provider relationships with the leave of absence and disability administrators to ensure proper administration of leaves of absence consistent with applicable laws and company policies
• May provide direction to other departments including IT, security, payroll and HR to resolve matters impacted by an associate’s leave of absence
• Collaborates proactively with internal business partners to provide subject matter expertise and counsel. Work with partners to identify solutions and to ensure that qualify, professional and timely assistance is provided to our associates.
• Administers the return to work process including the timely and accurate entry of return to work dates into the HRIS system.
• Manages and provides direction on denied leaves of absence for assigned regions, departments, or locations.
• Participates in audit processes to ensure data accuracy and plan administration compliance. Identifies information and system audit opportunities. Identifies trends, sees issues through to resolution and escalates potential issues.
• Prepares and conducts training for employees and managers on leave of absence policies and programs.
• Identifies gaps or opportunities for improvement to the leave of absence process and recommends solutions
• Identifies and immediately escalates potential opportunities for risk/exposure to the organization during the completion of assigned duties
• Participates in the selection of third-party leave administration partners and the evaluation of vendor performance.
• Performs other duties as assigned.