This position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs, Central Office (VACO) Human Resources Service Center (HRSC) that focuses on the establishment and transition of human capital services for VACO staff offices from the Veterans Health, Veterans Benefits, and National Cemetery Administrations. This position serves as the HR Specialist (Benefits) for the HRSC and is responsible for administering the employee benefits, OWCP, and related programs.

Duties

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package: HR Specialist Total Rewards Major Duties Include: Administering and providing advisory services on workplace flexibilities, tour of duty, group life insurance, health benefits, and the Thrift Savings Plan(TSP) programs. Serving as the specialist on benefits issues, including general information about retirement benefits, resolution of health benefits issues, and advising on insurance coverage options. Resolving problems in the administration of Work-life/Employee benefits programs. Training employees and supervisors regarding the latest information on all federal benefits. Assisting supervisors in planning and carrying out Work-life projects to inform employees regarding a range of available Work-life programs. Developing Work-life benefit's program information materials (in both electronic and print formats) for employees, including fact sheets, brochures, booklets, designed to increase program awareness, participation, and employee satisfaction. Counseling management, employees, and beneficiaries on program coverage, options, variances in coverage, and advantages and disadvantages of benefits decisions. Completing technical reviews, analysis and collaboration among internal and external stakeholders to ensure accurate processing of WC claims. Providing guidance and counsel to VACO Staff Office employees, managers and supervisors regarding their rights, responsibilities and requirements under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) immediately following the first report of work-related injury or illness. Evaluating the disposition of each workers' compensation claim to determine whether it is necessary to transmit the claim form to OWCP or maintain it in the Employee's Medical Folder. Monitoring the medical progress and duty status of all injured workers by obtaining periodic medical reports to determine duty status or clarify medical work restrictions imposed to assist the injured worker in progressing to full duties of the pre-injury position. Managing VACO chargeback to reduce and prevent unnecessary and costly expenditures. Evaluating trends in missions, technology, federal benefits laws and regulations, and other factors influencing employee WLB needs; coordinating with other HR functional areas in support of difficult and unusual recruitment and retentions issues or problems. Administering and providing advisory services on federal leave programs. Providing advice and consultation on Federal leave programs, including Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Advanced Leave, Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (VLTP), Disabled Veterans Leave, Leave Without Pay (LWOP), Weather and Safety Leave, Authorized Absence (AA), etc. Work Schedule: Monday- Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Compressed/Flexible: May be Available Remote/Virtual: This is not a remote or virtual position Telework: Available Relocation Incentive: Not Authorized

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/01/2023. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. The BASIC REQUIREMENT for the HR Specialist GS-0201 series is presumed met if found qualified at the GS-0201-7 level and above. To qualify for this position at the GS-12 level, you must meet one of the following listed Criteria: Criteria 1- Graduate Degree and Specialized Experience: Successful completion of a graduate level degree or higher and three years of progressive specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level. Such experience may be gained in administrative, professional, technical or other responsible work positions in the public (i.e., Government or military) or private sector. Qualifying specialized experience includes: experience that has provided you with knowledge of employee benefits; answering questions related to employee benefits entitlements; preparing communications to inform individuals of employee benefits; monitoring and evaluating leave related to workers compensation claims; assisting in the development of Work-life benefits programs. ~OR~ Criteria 2- Specialized Experience: You must have at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in federal service that demonstrates HR management knowledge, concepts and principles and the performance of work in one or more of the HR specialty areas. Such experience may be gained in administrative, professional, technical or other responsible work positions in the public (i.e., Government or military) or private sector. Qualifying specialized experience includes: counseling management, employees, and beneficiaries on employee benefit program coverage, options, variances in coverage, and advantages and disadvantages of benefits; resolving issues in the administration of the employee benefits program; interpreting, applying, and explaining retirement and insurance laws and regulations to employees; administering an organization's injury compensation program; providing training to supervisors and employees on practices and regulations of the injury compensation program You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Employee Benefits Reasoning Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: Work is primarily sedentary and requires no special physical demands. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

Qualifying education for the GS-0201 series includes courses and programs in HR, HR development, HR management, business, business management/administration, industrial relations, labor relations, industrial psychology, organizational psychology, organizational development, management, organizational behavior, pre-law/law, legal studies, health care management/administration, public administration, public policy, human services, leadership and/or humanities.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Reference: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix F1; Human Resources Specialist Qualification Standards GS-0201. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office.

Contacts

• Address VA Human Resources Service Center 810 Vermont Ave NW Washington, DC 20420 US
• Name: Cassie Noon
• Phone: 412-588-3926
• Email: [email protected]