Total Rewards Specialist – Benefits, Payroll

WorkWave

Total Rewards Specialist managing benefits programs and leave of absence at WorkWave's HR team. Focused on compliance, payroll auditing, and employee care within a dynamic remote-first workspace.

Posted 7/6/2026full-timeRemote • New Jersey • 🇺🇸 United StatesMid-LevelSenior💰 $70,000 - $85,000 per yearWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Manage day-to-day administration of group benefits programs (medical, dental, vision, 401k, life, and disability insurance).
Serve as the primary point of contact for multi-state leaves of absence, ensuring strict compliance with FMLA, ADA, and evolving state-specific paid family leave and disability legislations.
Act as the first line of contact for employee inquiries regarding benefit plans, claim escalations, and leave requests, providing empathetic and clear guidance.
Play a key role in the annual Open Enrollment process, including collaborating on strategy, managing communications, and executing benefit system configuration changes.
Own the monthly reconciliation of all group benefit invoices, identifying discrepancies, and working with vendors to resolve billing issues.
Ensure all benefit and leave programs remain compliant with federal and state regulations (ACA, COBRA, ERISA, HIPAA). Assist with required filings and testing (5500s, non-discrimination testing).
Conduct regular audits of HRIS data, benefit deductions, and leave tracking to ensure 100% accuracy between HR systems and third-party vendors.
Partner closely with the payroll team to audit payroll cycles prior to finalization. Train on end-to-end payroll processing to serve as the seamless primary backup when needed.
Contribute to broader HR initiatives, system migrations, total rewards statements, and wellness program implementations.

Requirements

What you’ll need

3 to 5 years of dedicated experience in HR, specifically focusing on benefits administration and leave of absence management.
Proven experience managing leaves and benefits across multiple states, with a solid understanding of varying state-specific disability and paid family leave regulations.
Prior experience with payroll processing or payroll auditing is highly preferred (or a strong aptitude and eagerness to learn).
Hands-on experience working within HRIS/Benefits administration systems. Comfort with system backend configuration (especially for Open Enrollment) is a major plus. Experience with Dayforce is also a plus.
Ability to translate complex benefit and compliance jargon into warm, easily understood language for employees.
Eagerness to contribute broadly to a small team and pivot between analytical data work and employee-facing conversations.

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

Benefits Program ManagementLeave ManagementPayroll AuditingData AuditingCompliance Testing

Soft Skills

Empathetic CommunicationTeam CollaborationAnalytical Thinking