Title: Benefits Counselor I
Reports To: Assistant Benefits Manager
Characteristics of the Class: Under supervision, provides counseling to Fund members regarding all aspects of their pension benefits. Special projects and duties as assigned by Benefits Manager. Performs a variety of clerical and administrative support duties for all MEABF operational departments. This position’s work schedule is in-office weekly, Monday – Friday during regularly scheduled MEABF office hours depending on operational needs.
Essential Duties:
- Provides information to members by phone and in person on the rules and
regulations governing the Fund regarding annuities, disability benefits, and
refunds.
- Counsels active and retired members in person regarding their future and current
benefit payments.
- Advises prospective retirees on various aspects that may affect their annuity
benefits, including annuitant health care coverage, taxability of benefits and
possible distribution penalties, social security rules and possible offset of social
security benefits.
- Prepares calculations and drafts a letter to be mailed in response to annuity and
refund estimate requests received by phone, mail, and email.
- Interacts with City and Board of Education records departments to gather work
histories and verify employment status for both participants and non-participants.
- Reviews work history and past refunds; calculates the cost to establish pension
credit for former service, refund repayments, military service, union service, CHA
service, PBC service, CTAservice.
- Reviews the applications for retirement annuity and survivor’s annuity for
completeness.
- Calculates actual benefit amounts for retirement annuity (including reciprocal fund
annuities), “No Spouse” refund, errors in pension deduction, taxability of benefit
amounts when member applies for retirement annuity; calculates surviving spouse
annuity, child annuity, reversionary annuity, or refund to heirs upon member’s
death,
- Consults with reciprocal funds regarding other fund’s service and proportional
share of annuity benefit; computes annuity amount after making any adjustment
for overlapping of service credit and combined annuities that exceed the
maximum.
- Completes verification of deposits forms from mortgage lenders and verification of
assets forms for Housing, Social Security, and Unemployment Compensation,
- Assists members with completing fund forms and applications including
membership records, retirement applications, survivor’s annuity applications,
refund, and refund in lieuapplications.
- Participates as occasional guest speaker for Pre-retirement Seminars hosted by
City of Chicago and Board of Education Human Resources Departments.
- Performs other duties as may be assigned by benefits manager and assistant
managers.
Special Projects:
Adjusts annuity and disability benefits due to new information such as law changes and retroactive salary increases.
Knowledge, Skill & Abilities:
Minimum Requirements
Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university is preferred, or at least five
years of experience in a business administration or related field, where strong math skills are required. The MEABF uses the cloud-powered Microsoft 365 platform. Proficiency with this platform is required, specifically Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Teams. Familiarity with Zoom and Board Effect software programs, a plus.
Crucial Skills Include:
- Ability to maintain MEABF member confidentiality.
- Adherence to MEABF data protection policy.
- Effective verbal and written communication skills.
- High level of organization.
- Ability to work under deadline pressure.
- Ability to pivot to address reprioritized objectives.
Training and Experience:
Skilled, verbal communication, superior customer service ability, clear, concise writing are mandatory. The ability to determine member needs and explain/teach new information to a wide range of personalities is required. The Benefits section works as a team and requires a collegial attitude. Multi-lingual, with strong English-speaking skills, a plus.
Physical Requirements:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job:
- Must be able to remain in a stationary position for extended periods of time.
- Must be able to operate a computer extensively for five (5) or more hours per day.
Comprehensive Benefits:
The MEABF has a generous benefits package including MEABF pension and disability
benefits, medical, dental and vision plans and an optional 457 savings plan.
MEABF is an Equal Opportunity Employer. MEABF does not discriminate due to race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender and/or gender identity or expression, marital or parental status, national origin, ethnicity, citizenship status, veteran or military status, age, disability, unemployment status, or any other legally protected basis. Qualified candidates of diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply for any vacant positions.
Salary:
This position’s salary begins at $56,500 – $60,000 DOQ.
Interested candidates should submit a cover letter and resume to [email protected], subject line Benefits Counselor I.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent
Pay: $56,500.00 - $60,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Dental insurance
- Disability insurance
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Parental leave
- Vision insurance
People with a criminal record are encouraged to apply
Work Location: In person
