Transit Disability Services Specialist presso King County, WA

About the Department

King County Metro Transit’s Employee Services Division is hiring a Disability Services Specialist (Senior HR Analyst) to join the Leave and Disability Services team. This position offers a hybrid work environment, fantastic benefits, and the opportunity to provide critical support and case management for Metro Employees seeking disability services. As a Disability Services Specialist (DSS), you will be one of six professional staff providing consultation and coordination in the areas of medical leave, reasonable accommodations, and disability services for Metro Transit, which employs over 5000 staff.

Our ideal candidate complies with all applicable State and Federal disability and leave laws, collective bargaining agreements, and court decisions. They must advise management of their responsibilities and employees of their rights under Federal and State laws as well as King County policies and regulations. They will also provide expert testimony in medical separation arbitration hearings and other related litigation. The body of work for this position is critically important to Metro Employees who seek assistance and support through the reasonable accommodation and medical leave processes. This position requires strong coaching skills, collaborative coordination skills, and empathy on a regular
basis.

About Metro Transit’s Leave and Disability Services Team:
The Disability Services Section is an interdisciplinary team dedicated to providing services to King County employees who have an illness or injury that impacts them at work. We work with employees, physicians, and supervisors to assist with reasonable accommodations and return to work plans for employees whose medical conditions affect their ability to perform the essential functions of their job.

This recruitment will be used to fill one (1) Disability Services Specialist (Senior HR Analyst). In addition, this selection process may be used to generate an eligibility pool for future Career Service, Special Duty Assignment, and Term Limited Temporary vacancies that may occur in this classification within this workgroup. The eligibility pool will be retained for 12 months from the date of posting and may be used at the discretion of the hiring authority.

Position Duties

Applying equity and social justice principles is a daily responsibility and foundational expectation for all King County employees. In this role, you will apply equity and social justice principles that exemplify shared values, behaviors, and practices to all aspects of this work. As the Disability Services Specialist, you will:

• Work with employees, supervisors, managers and Department and Division leadership to facilitate the reasonable accommodation and interactive process, including researching, identifying and recommending reasonable accommodations. 
• Perform case management duties in a high volume, fast-paced environment for employees who need assistance and have been diagnosed with a medical condition that impacts their ability to work.
• Review and analyze confidential medical information, essential job functions and employee records, and prepare written correspondence and communicate with health care providers to identify and clarify medical and work restrictions.
• Provide direct support to identify and facilitate resources for employees who may be facing a medical crisis; provide information about benefits, FMLA/KCFML, Washington state leave laws, and other assistance as appropriate.
• Provide advice and consultation to management and leadership on the administration of leaves in accordance with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, King County Family and Medical Leave ordinance, and other federal, state and local leave laws and statutes.
• Advise management on options for employees who are unable to meet contractual requirements to work on a regular basis and/or who may be misusing sick leave.
• Provide technical expertise and consulting services in analyzing, comparing, and contrasting the various Federal, State, and local disability and leave statutes, regulations and case law to determine appropriate actions/solutions.
• Coordinate job modification evaluations and appropriate actions prompted by requests for reasonable accommodation, transitional return-to-work and stay-at-work needs of Metro employees.
• Facilitate medical separations, medical resignations, and forward referrals for Career Center, Reassignment Program and Transitional Duty placement services.
• Track disability services, accommodation, and leaves of absence within Metro Transit to ensure consistency and compliance with regulatory requirements, worker's compensation guidelines, county personnel rules, and collective bargaining agreements.
• Provide education and training, and communicate legal updates in reasonable accommodation, disability and leave laws, and policies to Metro supervisors, managers, and leadership.
• Maintain comprehensive and complete case notes for assigned cases, preserve the confidentiality of case information, and ensure the accommodations that are provided to employees are documented.
• Other duties as assigned in support of Metro’s Leave and Disability Services team.

Minimum Qualifications

We'd love to hear from those who have:

• Experience interpreting and applying WLAD, ADA, FLSA, FMLA, Title VII, and applicable WAC, RCWs, and court rulings related to disability and industrial insurance.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to translate technical information to non-technical audiences, and the ability to adapt own communication style to suit situations that include advising leadership and ES staff, suggesting workable solutions, and providing end-user support and training. 
• Demonstrated commitment to and understanding of best practices in delivering quality customer service, including effective interpersonal skills, conflict resolution, and the ability to promote collaboration.
• Ability to communicate policies and legal/medical terminology to clients and staff.
• Ability to adapt communication style to suit situations that will include meetings with senior managers, correspondence with medical personnel, and facilitating medical separation meetings with upset employees.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective, cooperative, respectful, and equitable working relationships with centralized disability services staff, Metro leaders, and a diverse workforce in order to effectively implement King County’s Reasonable Accommodation in Employment for Individuals with Disabilities policy.
• Knowledge of (and ability to read and understand) medical terminology, interpret technical reports, and understand disabilities.
• Skill in effective time-management, planning, prioritizing, and coordinating multiple projects with critical timelines.
• Ability to interpret and evaluate events/issues and use analytical skills to successfully anticipate, recognize and resolve problems.
• Ability to operate without well-defined policy and recognize precedent-setting situations.
• Proficiency in the following: MSWord, Teams, OneDrive, Excel, Outlook, SharePoint
• Experience in the design and implementation of disability and leave training to various levels of employees within an organization.
• A bachelor’s degree in human resource management, Business Administration, Counseling, or related field and at least two (2) years of increasingly responsible experience in coordinating and providing medical leave, reasonable accommodation and/or disability services, or equivalent work with people with disabilities. OR ANY equivalent combination of experience and education which provides the applicant with the skills, knowledge, and abilities required to perform the work duties and responsibilities of the Disability Services Specialist position.

Highly competitive candidates will also have:

• Relevant national certification(s) such as a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC), Professional Human Resource designation (SPHR, PHR, SHRM- SCP, SHRM-CP, or IPMA-HR), Certified Disability Management Specialist (CDMS) or Registered Washington State Department of Labor and Industries Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (VRC). 
• Knowledge of benefits programs related to people with disabilities.
• Experience working in the public sector and/or unionized environments.
• Experience in designing and/or providing ongoing training for management and staff regarding their roles, responsibilities and legal obligations on issues such as federal, state leave benefits, medical absence and accommodation issues, and disability discrimination or harassment.
• Demonstrated ability in conducting or providing support for internal investigations regarding disability discrimination.
• Experience interpreting bargaining agreement and contractual language into HR processes.

Other Qualifications

Required Application Materials

• A completed Job Application (employment history should go back at least 10 years if you have 10 years of employment (or more to include all relevant experience). Resumes are not accepted in lieu of a completed job application.
• Cover Letter detailing your background and describing how you meet or exceed the requirements.
• Complete the supplemental questions

NOTE: Applications that do not include the required materials may be rejected as incomplete and will not advance in the process.

Selection Process

All the application materials will be screened for qualifications, competitiveness, completeness, attention to detail and written communications kills. The most competitive candidates may be invited to participate in one or more interviews. Final offers are contingent on successful completion of reference checks.

Work Schedule

This position is non-exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and overtime eligible. Employees are paid on a bi-weekly schedule, every other Thursday. Work hours are comprised of a 40-hour work week within core hours of workday, normally 6:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Union Representation/Job Code/Grade This position is not represented by a union. 

Work Location

The work performed in this position is conducted in a hybrid office environment. The primary onsite location is the King Street Center located at 201 South Jackson Street, Seattle, WA.

Teleworking Requirement

The work associated with this position will be performed predominantly in a hybrid work environment working in the office and at home. Employees will have access to shared workspaces at various King County facilities. Employees must reside in Washington state and within areas on able distance to their King County worksite to respond to workplace reporting requirements.

Who May Apply

This position is open to the public and all King County employees.

To Apply

If you are interested in pursuing this position, please follow the application instructions carefully. If you need this announcement in an alternate language or format, would like to request accommodation or assistance in the application or assessment process or if you have questions please contact: Manal Tirhi, [email protected]

Forbes recently named King County as one of Washington State's best employers. Together, with leadership and our employees, we're changing the way government delivers service and winning national recognition as a model of excellence. Are you ready to make a difference? Come join the team dedicated to serving one of the nation's best places to live, work, and play.

Guided by our "True North", we are making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. We value diversity, inclusion, and belonging in our workplace and workforce. To reach this goal we are committed to workforce equity. Equitable recruiting, support, and retention is how we will obtain the highest quality workforce in our region; a workforce that shares and will help advance our guiding principles--we are one team; we solve problems; we focus on the customer; we drive for results; we are racially just; we respect all people; we lead the way, and we are responsible stewards. We encourage people of all backgrounds and identities to apply, including Native American and people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ+, people living with disabilities, and veterans.

King County is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)Employer.

No person is unlawfully excluded from employment opportunities based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or other protected class. Our EEO policy applies to all employment actions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, selection for training, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation.

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