Lines for Life Job Description
Position Title: Temporary Leave Administration Manager
Location: Portland, OR
Reports to: Human Resources Officer
Status: Temporary Full Time
Assignment Length: Approximately 12 weeks, with the possibility of extension. Dates: 8/8 - 11/5
Compensation: $42 - $46/hr. The employee will accrue PTO and receive applicable employee benefits throughout their employment.
Location: Remote or hybrid; must be available during Pacific Time
About the Organization: Lines for Life is a regional non-profit that is dedicated to preventing substance abuse and suicide. We offer help and hope to individuals and communities and promote mental health for all. Our work addresses a spectrum of needs that include intervention, prevention, and advocacy. We educate, train, and advocate to prevent issues of substance abuse, mental illness, and thoughts of suicide from reaching crisis levels. But when a crisis arises or support is needed, we are available 24/7/365 to intervene with personalized help.
Leave Administration Manager Position Overview: Lines for Life is seeking a highly experienced temporary Leave Administration Manager to provide continuity for a critical Human Resources function during an employee’s extended leave of absence. The Temporary Leave Administration Manager will independently administer employee leaves of absence and related workplace accommodation processes.
This position will serve as the primary point of contact for employees, supervisors, Human Resources staff, leave and disability vendors, and other internal partners.
The successful candidate will bring substantial hands-on experience administering complex and overlapping leave programs in a multistate environment. The position requires sound judgment, careful documentation, strong employee communication, and the ability to manage a high-volume caseload with limited ramp-up time.
This temporary position is intentionally focused on leave administration and related benefits, accommodation, documentation, and return-to-work coordination. It is not expected to assume the full range of responsibilities assigned to the permanent HR Manager position.
Leave Administration Manager Essential Responsibilities:
Leave Intake and Case Management
- Serve as the primary point of contact for employees requesting or currently using a leave of absence.
- Conduct timely initial meetings with employees to understand their circumstances, explain available leave options, and identify required documentation and next steps.
- Independently manage leave cases from initial request through return to work, exhaustion of available leave, transition to another leave status, or case closure.
- Maintain regular and appropriately timed communication with employees throughout the leave process.
- Monitor deadlines for notices, certifications, recertifications, benefit elections, return-to-work documentation, and other required actions.
- Ensure that employees receive accurate, understandable, and compassionate information without making medical judgments or promising outcomes before eligibility has been evaluated.
Legal and Policy Administration
- Administer applicable federal, state, and local leave requirements, including FMLA and the leave and paid-leave programs that apply in the states where Lines for Life employs staff.
- Evaluate eligibility and determine how different leave entitlements, disability benefits, paid time off, workers’ compensation, and organizational policies interact.
- Issue required eligibility, designation, rights-and-responsibilities, approval, denial, exhaustion, and return-to-work notices.
- Apply Lines for Life policies consistently while identifying circumstances that require consultation with the Human Resources Director, ADP TotalSource, or legal counsel.
- Monitor developments or changes in leave requirements that may affect active cases during the temporary assignment.
Disability and Accommodation Coordination
- Coordinate leave administration with the ADA interactive process when an employee’s medical condition may affect their ability to perform essential job functions.
- Request and review appropriate medical documentation while limiting inquiries to information that is job-related and necessary.
- Work with employees, supervisors, and Human Resources leadership to evaluate return-to-work restrictions and potential reasonable accommodations.
- Maintain a clear distinction between leave eligibility, disability-benefit eligibility, accommodation obligations, and operational decisions.
- Escalate complex, high-risk, or potentially precedent-setting accommodation matters to the Human Resources Director.
Disability, Benefits, and Vendor Coordination
- Coordinate with ADP TotalSource and applicable leave, disability, benefits, and workers’ compensation providers.
- Assist employees in understanding how short-term disability, long-term disability, paid leave, health benefits, and other programs relate to an approved leave.
- Reconcile vendor determinations with Lines for Life’s internal leave records and applicable legal requirements.
- Follow up promptly when vendor records, employee documentation, payroll information, or internal records do not align.
- Coordinate with payroll and benefits staff regarding benefit deductions, paid and unpaid time, premium payments, and employee status changes.
Tracking, Documentation, and Reporting
- Maintain complete, accurate, and timely records for all active and recently closed leave cases.
- Track leave usage, intermittent absences, reduced schedules, available balances, certification periods, expected return dates, and case status.
- Ensure that medical and leave-related information is maintained separately from general personnel records and shared only with those who have a legitimate business need.
- Provide regular status information to the Human Resources Director, including:
- Active leave caseload
- Upcoming deadlines
- Anticipated returns
- Exhaustion of protected leave
- Cases requiring decisions or escalation
- Documentation or communication gaps
- Prepare an organized case-status report and transition summary at the end of the temporary assignment.
Supervisor and Operational Coordination
- Provide supervisors with timely information about an employee’s approved leave status, anticipated duration, work restrictions, intermittent-leave parameters, and return-to-work status without disclosing confidential medical information.
- Help supervisors understand their responsibilities when an employee raises a possible need for leave or accommodation.
- Coordinate with Crisis Lines Staffing and other operational teams regarding employee availability and anticipated absences.
- Support accurate workforce planning while protecting employee confidentiality.
- Identify patterns of absence that may require clarification, recertification, policy review, or further consultation.
Return-to-Work and Case Closure
- Obtain and review required return-to-work or fitness-for-duty documentation.
- Coordinate approved return dates, restrictions, transitional arrangements, and accommodations with the employee and supervisor.
- Confirm that payroll, benefits, scheduling, and employment-status records are updated appropriately.
- Communicate clearly when available leave is nearing exhaustion and identify any remaining processes that must be considered.
- Document the outcome and formally close completed leave cases.
Leave Administration Manager Required Qualifications
- At least five years of progressively responsible Human Resources experience, including substantial direct responsibility for leave-of-absence administration.
- Demonstrated experience independently administering FMLA and state-specific protected-leave programs.
- Experience managing complex cases involving overlapping leave entitlements, disability benefits, intermittent leave, return-to-work restrictions, and workplace accommodations.
- Working knowledge of the ADA interactive process and its relationship to employee leave.
- Experience administering leave for employees working in multiple states.
- Ability to interpret laws, policies, medical certifications, benefit-plan information, and vendor determinations.
- Strong case-management, documentation, organizational, and deadline-management skills.
- Ability to communicate complex and sensitive information clearly, respectfully, and compassionately.
- Demonstrated ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise sound judgment.
- Proficiency with HR information systems, electronic records, Microsoft Office, and remote communication platforms.
- Ability to become productive quickly, independently assess priorities, and manage an active caseload with limited supervision.
Leave Administration Manager Preferred Qualifications
- PHR, SPHR, SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, CLMS, or comparable Human Resources or leave-management certification.
- Experience using ADP TotalSource or another professional employer organization or outsourced leave-administration platform.
- Experience administering paid-leave programs in Oregon and other states.
- Experience supporting a geographically distributed workforce.
- Experience in a nonprofit, healthcare, behavioral-health, social-service, or 24/7 operating environment.
- Experience working in a unionized workplace.
- Experience conducting leave-file audits or improving leave-administration workflows.
Leave Administration Manager Schedule and Availability
This position is expected to work approximately 40 hours per week, primarily during Monday through Friday Pacific Time business hours. Some flexibility may be required to communicate with employees or supervisors working evening, overnight, or weekend schedules.
Measures of Success During the Assignment
Success in this temporary assignment will include:
- No missed legally required notices or material case deadlines.
- Employees receive timely, accurate, and understandable information.
- Active leave cases have current documentation, status, and next-action dates.
- Supervisors receive the operational information they need without inappropriate disclosure of medical information.
- Payroll, benefits, vendor, and internal leave records remain aligned.
- Complex or high-risk cases are escalated promptly.
- The returning employee receives a complete, organized, and usable transition of all open matters.
Leave Administration Manager Temporary Assignment Scope
The Temporary Leave Administration Manager may assist with closely related Human Resources work when capacity permits, but the assignment’s first priority is the accurate and timely administration of employee leaves, disability-related processes, workplace accommodations, and returns to work.
This description is not intended to list every responsibility that may arise during the assignment. Duties may be adjusted based on operational needs and the status of the active leave caseload.
This job description is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of duties and responsibilities but constitutes a general definition of the position's scope and function in the company.
EEO: Lines for Life strives to create a diverse, inclusive environment to better represent the communities that we serve. We are an equal opportunity employer. Lines for Life shall not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin. However, it shall not be a violation of this clause for the Lines for Life to extend a publicly announced preference in employment to Indians living on or near an Indian reservation, in connection with employment opportunities on or near an Indian reservation, as permitted by 41 CFR 60-1.5
All Lines for Life employees must be approved to work by the Oregon Department of Human Services’ Background Check Unit. Background checks are completed after a conditional offer of employment has been extended.
