The Leave Specialist is responsible for the overall Leave Disability Management/Return to Work administration
and continunity of practice of Cedars-Sinai's disability management processes, including facilitating the
interactive process (IAP) to identify reasonable accommodation(s) and the return to work of ill and/or injured
employees as seamlessly and expeditiously as possible. Employs established recognized principles of disability
case management in order to achieve these goals, will serve as the primary liaison between the employee,
health care provider(s), department management, Human Resources and others as appropriate to consult and
advise on return to work and accommodation issues.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities
- Facilitate and oversee the disability management process for ill and injured employees related to leave and workplace accommodations under the Family Medical Leave Act, the California Family Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Employment and Housing Act, and workers compensation laws.
- Ensure confidentiality of all sensitive information pertaining to the employee.
- Employ return-to-work strategies that are cost effective for Cedars-Sinai, as well as productive and meaningful for the employees. Serve as the catalyst in refining, developing and promoting these strategies as needed.
- Facilitate and/or actively engage in the interactive process with the employee, the employee’s supervisor and other appropriate parties to ensure all opportunities for workplace accommodation and/or return to work have been thoroughly explored.
- Consult with the employee, department management, treating medical provider(s), HR staff and other stakeholders to determine, clarify or verify the employee’s abilities and restrictions, job demands, physical demands, accommodations, and timing of the return to work. Assist employees by assessing the employee’s skills and any work restrictions, and developing job search plans to facilitate identification of reasonable accommodation(s) and/or timely and safe return to work.
- Work to ensure compliance with the requirement to accommodate by developing alternative strategies. Provide ongoing consultation, support and problem-solving assistance to the employee and department management on the return-to-work process and temporary transitional assignments.
- Collaborate with HR staff and department management to analyze job requirements and appropriately identify essential functions and provide recommendations to management for options or solutions to accommodate employees’ restrictions.
- Provide assistance and guidance to department management on forms of accommodations, including job modification and acquisition of assistive devices. Assist department managers with developing and maintaining a list of available and appropriate modified work positions that can be used for temporary accommodations within the area of responsibility.
- Administer, review and refine formal process for accommodation requests and the interactive process. Gather and maintain return-to-work data; keep records of accommodation attempts and the interactive process utilizing established and accepted record keeping systems.
- Provide training to the HR staff and department management on disability and return to work-related topics. Include regular delivery of Managing Absences, Leaves and Disabilities (MALD) training. Cross-train in other related functions, such as, intake, intermittent leave evaluation, message center and others to provide support to the team as needed.
Requirements:
- At least 3 years of Direct experience in disability management, Return to Work administration, reasonable accommodations and the interactive process.