To:  Claudia Hazelhurt, HR Director

From:  Shelley Caskey, HR Analyst

Re:  Risk Management - Sr. Administrative Assistant (Siri Vensel)

Date:  March 12, 2015

Background:

In 2008, the City began a Classification and Compensation study with an anticipated implementation date of January 1, 2010. As part of the study, all employees were asked to complete a Job Analysis Questionnaire (JAQ) describing their essential job duties and responsibilities. At that time, the position in question was reclassified from an Administrative Assistant to a Senior Administrative Assistant.

As part of the 2015 budget process, an audit was requested of the Risk Management Division to ensure the accuracy of job descriptions, titling, and compensation levels relative to other City jobs and market cities. This report will focus on the Sr. Administrative Assistant currently reporting to the Risk Manager. The incumbent is currently red lined at $22.86 per hour or $3962 per month.

Review of Responsibilities and Job Duties

In order to review the job duties currently being performed by the incumbent, she was asked to complete a JAQ. Upon receipt of the completed JAQ, a meeting was held with the incumbent.

In reviewing the JAQ and as a result of the meeting, it was determined that the incumbent is responsible for the following duties:

•  Daily case management of workers’ compensation claims; manages each claim to include proper and timely filing to the City’s Third Party Administrator (TPA); reviews claims, gathers facts from injured workers and supervisors and submits required information to the TPA; works with the TPA to determine compensability of claims and the appropriate course of action; serves as the liaison with injured employees ensuring they are informed, are receiving appropriate care, and facilitates their return to work; works with medical providers, supervisors, and case managers on patient status, appropriate treatment plans and return to work; responds to telephone calls and in-person concerns regarding workers’ compensation claims.

•  Provides property and liability claims oversight; responds to calls from claimants; applies policy and procedures to resolve claims efficiently and equitably; evaluates claims to determine liability and potential severity of claims, likelihood for recovery, determination if claim should be handled in-house or filed with the TPA; able to authorize the payment of lower dollar claims, $500 or less.

•  Files claims with outside insurance companies and/or the courts for recovery of damages to City property.

•  Manages and coordinates the Random Drug screen program; DOT physicals for CDL licensed employees; and responds to and tracks unemployment claims and costs.

•  Provides information to employees and supervisors related to human resources policy interpretation, employee relations, and benefits administration.

•  Completes and submits the biannual report of workers’ compensation wages to the State for self-insurance purposes and the annual application and reporting to DOWC to maintain self-insured status; oversees the annual CIRSA renewal process, gathers information on property throughout the year and files amendments as changes occur, communicates with CIRSA staff on coverage issues.

•  Participates in safety committees reporting on property and liability and workers’ compensation claim issues; makes recommendations to safety groups based on claims.

•  Assists Human Resource staff by serving as backup for front office coverage or administering testing to job applicants as needed.

•  Performs other general administrative tasks such as accounts payable and receivable, in-person and over the phone customer service; letter writing, data entry, record keeping, and maintaining claim files in accordance with governmental guidelines.

Changes in Job Duties

When asked what job duties have changed within her role, the incumbent stated that she has become the sole contact for workers’ compensation claims within the City. When she started, she would input claims, collect the necessary paperwork, and involve the Risk Manager on a regular basis for direction, guidance, and conversations with injured employees. This no longer occurs. The Risk Manager no longer is involved in claims management and is only brought in if litigation is needed; there is the possibility of a large cost implication or in disability termination cases with ADA implications. The incumbent now reviews claims, looks at data, determines appropriate course of action and communicates with the injured employee and their supervisor. The incumbent also pays attention to the details of claims to ensure the best results for both the employee and the City and questions claims as needed. Claims are investigated and a decision is made on whether or not to accept the claim, get another medical opinion, or deny a medical procedure. The incumbent communicates the information to the employee with specifics on why and how it impacts them. The incumbent also works with the Benefits Coordinator to assist employees with coordination of benefits and often speaks to employees about disability, social security paperwork, and the application of policies and procedures.

In addition to managing the daily activities of workers’ compensation claims, the incumbent gathers information on trends and meets with the Safety Coordinator monthly to review and assist with establishing steps to resolve the injury trend. The incumbent will speak with supervisors after an accident to talk through the details and ask what steps have been put in place to ensure the same accident does not reoccur.

Property and liability claims oversight has grown as the incumbent is now the main point of contact for all citizens filing a claim against the City. The incumbent no longer redirects these calls to the Risk Manager. The incumbent will talk with potential claimants and has developed the knowledge to be able to explain where liability starts and stops and if the issue will be covered. The incumbent is able to provide verbal denials with formal letters of denial coming from the TPA.

The incumbent was asked her recommendation on the reclassification of her position. She stated she feels it should be retitled to “Claims/Risk Analyst” and aligned equivalent to the Safety Coordinator within the Human Resource Analyst benchmark. The incumbent has a Bachelor’s Degree, has 7 years of experience with the City in workers’ compensation/risk management, and does not have any specific risk management certifications.

Market Comparison

Job descriptions from our market cities were reviewed and no matches were found. Aspects of the incumbent’s function are common within our market cities but the positions reviewed typically have a broader scope of responsibility related to safety, loss prevention, auto and general liability insurance, and workers’ compensation.

The job descriptions reviewed have titling similar to “Claims/Risk Analyst” or “Safety and Workers’ Compensation Coordinator”, have an average annual salary ranging from $59,000 to $82,000, are exempt level, require a bachelor’s degree in a related field, and 3 to 5 years of experience in risk management, workers’ compensation, safety, and general liability, and some positions had a desired certification level of Associate in Risk Management (ARM) or Certified Safety Professional (CSP). These positions are responsible for the daily management of workers’ compensation and property and liability claims; in addition to, researching, analyzing and providing statistical data on claims and losses, assisting with the collection and preparation of performance measurement reports, processing Risk Management reports; serving as the City’s representative on litigated claims at settlement conferences and hearings, arriving at, negotiating, and recommending appropriate settlements with injured employees and/or their counsel; overseeing the safety program, updating the City’s safety program manual and loss control standards manual, providing safety information and arranging and/or instructing safety training sessions on a regular basis, conducting safety field audits and investigating environmental and occupational health hazards; inspecting City facilities, properties, and work sites and recommending and implementing corrective action; conducting comparative analysis and review of insurance and indemnification of contracts, analyzing and classifying risks as to frequency, potential severity, and financial impact, analyzing injury and cost data to assist in decision making about program design, settlements, and goals; recommending and writing relevant policies and procedures, and independently investigating and adjusting liability claims, setting reserves, evaluating governmental immunity impact, and providing support to the City Attorney’s office in litigated matters.

These duties are all performed within the City, however, are split between the incumbent with the higher level duties being performed by our Risk Manager, Safety Coordinator, Third Party Administrator, or City Attorney.

Internal Review:

The incumbent spends the majority of her time managing and coordinating the daily activities of the workers’ compensation program in addition to property and liability claims, addressing internal and external customer inquiries related to these programs, having sensitive conversations with employees and educating them on the workers’ compensation process, determining appropriate treatment plans and returning to work. These duties all require the incumbent to possess comprehensive understanding of workers’ compensation in order to be able to interpret and apply guidelines without direction or approval from an outside source. The incumbent’s manager, Risk Manager Dave Roper, relies on her to handle highly sensitive and confidential matters with employees, supervisors, and citizens without any direct supervision. The incumbent is given the authority to make decisions regarding claims without receiving prior approval. Therefore, it is determined that the scope of the position has grown to include independent decision making authority in the day-to-day management of workers’ compensation and property and liability claims.

Although the scope of the position has grown, it is not responsible for higher level analysis work performed by “Claims/Risk Analyst” positions found within our market cities. Therefore, a separate job classification at that level is not warranted. With the increase in responsibility, the position is no longer performing at the Sr. Administrative Assistant level and a review of the Administrative Specialist classification was conducted.

Employees in the Administrative Specialist classification typically perform paraprofessional duties in multiple administrative functional areas and have specific working knowledge of administrative procedures and organizational operations necessary to be able to interpret and apply guidelines. They frequently take independent action in order to take or effectively recommend action and correct errors in situations that require interpretation, coordination, or reconciliation of multiple guidelines. They often handle critical, complex or sensitive internal and public contact and act as the liaison between managers and clients. Duties are complex and non-routine and involve the development and implementation of administrative support processes throughout the division, department, and/or City, and representation of the City and/or City supervisor/manager/department head as required.

In comparison of the job duties being performed, the incumbent spends the majority of her day managing and coordinating workers’ compensation and property and liability claims on behalf of the City, addressing sensitive and confidential matters with employees, supervisors, medical providers, and citizens, providing explanation of benefits and outlining the best course of action for return to work, determining liability of claims and dealing with them accordingly, and assisting the Risk Manager and Safety Coordinator with additional duties as needed. These duties require the incumbent to have a strong working knowledge and application of laws, rules, policies and procedures regulating workers’ compensation, property and liability, and city benefits, and their interaction with one another.

Recommendation

After reviewing the current job duties of the Risk Management Sr. Administrative Assistant position, it is determined that the current classification within the Administrative Series is incorrect and the accurate classification is Administrative Specialist. Therefore, it is recommended that the position be reclassified to Administrative Specialist effective retro-actively as of pay period 1, or 12/21/2014.

A working title of Risk Management Specialist may be utilized.

This recommendation would result in a total 2015 budget impact of $2,762 to fund 404.