HR Generalist - Leave & Accommodations
Pico Propane · Meritum San Antonio - San Antonio, TX 78258
Who We Are
Meritum Energy is a leading provider of propane, natural gas, diesel, and other mobile energy solutions throughout Texas, New Mexico, Florida, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas and North Carolina. Known for our unwavering commitment to safety, service excellence, and community partnership, we proudly stand by our company motto: We Sell Service.
Why Join Us?
We're committed to supporting our team members with benefits that match our values of safety, service and stability. Here's what you can expect:
- Competitive salary
- 401(k) with 6% company match
- Health and vision insurance
- Company paid dental insurance
- Company paid AD&D and life insurance
- Paid time off with rollover hours
- Referral bonus programs
Job Summary
The HR Generalist - Leave & Accommodations administers employee leaves of absence, FMLA, ADA workplace accommodations, return-to-work processes, benefits, and related employee relations matters. This position supports Meritum Energy's multi-state operations and serves as the primary HR point of contact for employees and managers throughout the leave, accommodation, and benefits process, ensuring requests are handled consistently, promptly, compassionately, and in accordance with applicable laws and Company policies.
The role requires strong judgment, attention to detail, confidentiality, and the ability to manage multiple cases at once. The HR Generalist will work closely with employees, managers, Safety, Payroll, and HR leadership, and will partner with our benefits broker on leave, accommodation, and day-to-day benefits matters. This role independently manages routine leave and accommodation cases and partners with the Director of HR on complex or higher-risk matters.
Duties/Responsibilities:
Leave of Absence & FMLA Administration
- Manage the employee leave process from initial notification through return to work, including FMLA, medical leaves, personal leaves, parental leaves, military leave, and other Company-approved leaves.
- Determine employee eligibility for FMLA and other applicable leave programs and provide required notices, forms, certifications, and communications within applicable deadlines.
- Track FMLA usage, including continuous and intermittent leave, and maintain accurate leave balances and documentation.
- Review medical certifications for completeness and coordinate requests for clarification or recertification when appropriate.
- Monitor employees approaching the exhaustion of FMLA or other protected leave and proactively evaluate whether additional obligations, including the ADA accommodation process, may apply.
- Communicate regularly with employees regarding certification deadlines, leave status, expected return-to-work dates, extensions, and outstanding documentation.
- Coordinate with Payroll and Benefits when employees begin or return from leave, including PTO, unpaid leave, benefit continuation, and premium obligations.
- Maintain accurate leave records, case documentation, and employee status changes in the HRIS, and monitor reports for employees approaching leave exhaustion or with outstanding documentation.
ADA & Workplace Accommodations
- Serve as the primary HR contact for employee requests for reasonable accommodation under the ADA and applicable state or local laws.
- Recognize when an employee may be requesting an accommodation, even if they do not use the words “ADA” or “reasonable accommodation.”
- Initiate and manage the interactive process with employees and management.
- Provide employees with appropriate accommodation documentation and obtain medical information when legally permissible and necessary to evaluate a request.
- Evaluate requested accommodations with HR leadership and management, including the essential functions of the position, while keeping medical information confidential.
- Document the interactive process, accommodation decisions, approved accommodations, duration, restrictions, and follow-up requirements.
- Periodically review temporary or ongoing accommodations to determine whether modifications, updated medical information, or additional discussion is necessary.
- Escalate complex accommodation matters, potential undue-hardship issues, or significant employment decisions to HR leadership and legal counsel when appropriate.
Return-to-Work & Medical Restrictions
- Coordinate employee return-to-work processes following medical or other qualifying leaves.
- Review fitness-for-duty documentation and work restrictions to determine whether an employee can safely perform the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation.
- Partner with managers and Safety when work restrictions affect safety-sensitive duties, driving responsibilities, physical requirements, or other essential job functions.
- Coordinate temporary restrictions or modified-duty arrangements when approved and appropriate.
- Track restriction expiration dates and obtain updated documentation when necessary.
- Communicate return-to-work status and approved restrictions to management while limiting disclosure of confidential medical information.
Employee Relations & Attendance
- Provide guidance to managers regarding employee relations matters, attendance, performance concerns, policy violations, and corrective action.
- Assist managers with preparing documentation, including memos of conversation, written warnings, final written warnings, performance improvement plans, and other corrective-action documents.
- Ensure disciplinary documentation is supported by sufficient facts, including dates, prior coaching, and the applicable policy or expectation.
- Review corrective actions for consistency, completeness, and potential employment-law concerns.
- Identify when attendance or performance issues may involve an underlying medical condition, protected leave, disability, accommodation request, workers' compensation claim, or other protected activity before disciplinary action is finalized.
- Escalate high-risk employee relations matters to HR leadership as appropriate.
- Partner with managers on attendance concerns, helping them distinguish protected leave, approved Company leave, PTO, and unexcused absences before corrective action occurs.
Benefits Administration & Open Enrollment
- Serve as a primary point of contact for employees regarding questions about the Company's health, dental, vision, life, disability, 401(k), and other Company-sponsored benefit plans.
- Partner with our benefits broker on day-to-day plan administration, carrier issues, billing and eligibility discrepancies, and escalated benefits questions.
- Coordinate annual open enrollment with our benefits broker, including employee communications, enrollment meetings and materials, platform setup and testing, and deadlines.
- Assist employees with benefits enrollment, changes due to qualifying life events, and general plan questions throughout the year.
- Coordinate COBRA notifications and continuation coverage with our benefits broker and/or COBRA administrator.
- Reconcile benefit invoices, carrier eligibility files, and payroll deductions, and resolve discrepancies with the broker, carriers, and Payroll.
- Assist with the annual renewal process, including gathering census data, reviewing plan documents and summary plan descriptions, and preparing employee-facing communications.
- Maintain accurate benefits records and ensure benefit elections and life-event changes are reflected timely and accurately in the HRIS.
Workers' Compensation & Safety Coordination
- Partner with the Safety Department on employee injuries when workers' compensation, FMLA, ADA, or other leave requirements overlap.
- Ensure employees with work-related injuries are evaluated consistently for applicable FMLA protections and ADA obligations.
- Coordinate restrictions and return-to-work documentation with Safety and operational