Leave of Absence Specialist in St. Louis, Missouri at McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.

The Leave of Absence Specialist is part of the Total Rewards team and serves as the day-to-day process owner for leave-of-absence intake and case coordination.

This role is responsible for:

• Providing a consistent, centralized experience for employees and managers.
• Coordinating communications among employees, HR, managers, Payroll, Benefits, and external vendors, including Prudential, our leave and disability partner.
• Tracking case activity, required actions, and deadlines.
• Supporting return-to-work transitions.

The role is intended to improve consistency, employee experience, visibility, and compliance while reducing manual administrative burden across regions. It supports compliance with applicable leave laws and regulations, including the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and applicable state and local leave requirements.

This position reports to the Health & Wellbeing Director.

Intake and Case Coordination

• Serve as the primary intake point for leave-of-absence requests on behalf of Total Rewards and provide employees with clear next steps, resources, and vendor information.
• Coordinate day-to-day leave intake and maintain timely, clear communication with employees, HR, managers, and vendors throughout the leave lifecycle.
• Partner directly with Prudential, the leave and disability vendor, to manage case referrals, monitor case progress, and support timely resolution.
• Track leave status, required actions, deadlines, and milestones to support timely follow-up and consistent case progression.

Systems and Vendor Management

• Update payroll, benefits, HR systems, and other tracking tools with leave-related information and status changes, as appropriate.
• Monitor updates from Prudential and other vendors and communicate relevant case information to internal stakeholders accurately and promptly.

Return-to-Work Support

• Initiate and coordinate return-to-work activities, including confirming release-to-work documentation and return dates.
• Transition cases to HR partners for ongoing reintegration or accommodation support, as needed.

Documentation and Process Improvement

• Maintain accurate case documentation, communication history, and tracking records to support visibility, continuity, and audit readiness. Handle confidential and sensitive employee information in accordance with privacy and compliance standards.
• Support standardized intake and workflow processes across regions to create a scalable, repeatable shared-services model.
• Identify trends, process gaps, and recurring pain points; escalate issues and recommendations to leadership as appropriate.
• Partner on process redesign and implementation efforts related to HR Acuity, ticketing and case-management tools, reporting, and workflow improvements for leave administration.

• Experience supporting leave of absence, benefits, HR operations, employee services, or shared services processes.
• Strong ability to manage detailed, deadline-driven processes across multiple systems and stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly and empathetically with employees during sensitive or high-stress situations.
• Ability to handle confidential and sensitive employee information with sound judgment and discretion.
• Strong organizational skills and follow-through, with the ability to maintain documentation accuracy and case visibility.
• Comfortable working in evolving processes and helping build standardized workflows, documentation, and service models.
• Ability to partner effectively across HR, Shared Services, Total Rewards, vendors (including Prudential), and business stakeholders.
• Experience with HR systems, case-management tools, or manual tracking environments requiring strong attention to detail and process discipline.
• Experience working with a third-party administrator (TPA) model for leave and disability case management preferred.
• Bilingual English/Spanish skills preferred.

Genuine McCarthy Enterprises is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, including disability and protected veteran status.

NOTICE TO EXTERNAL SEARCH FIRMS: GME's Talent Acquisition Team is the only authorized representative permitted to engage with external search firms, staffing agencies, or other third-party recruiting partners. GME maintains an Approved Agency List for recruiting partners, which is reviewed and updated annually.

GME will only consider submissions from agencies with a signed fee agreement in place for the current year. GME does not accept unsolicited resumes, candidate submissions, or referrals from agencies that do not meet these requirements.

If a candidate is submitted without an active agreement, GME will have no obligation to pay any fees and reserves the right to contact, engage, interview, or hire such candidate(s) without any financial or other responsibility to the submitting agency. Unsolicited resumes, including those sent directly to hiring managers or other employees, will be considered the property of GME.