Sr. Associate, Leave of Absence Specialist

Sr. Associate, Leave of Absence Specialist

Location: Mexico City (Hybrid)

At Alcon, we are driven by the meaningful work we do to help people see brilliantly. We innovate boldly, champion progress, and act with speed as the global leader in eye care. Here, you’ll be recognized for your commitment and contributions and see your career like never before. Together, we go above and beyond to make an impact in the lives of our patients and customers. We foster an inclusive culture and are looking for diverse, talented people to join Alcon.

As a Sr. Associate, Leave of Absence Specialist supporting the HR - Benefits team, you will be primarily responsible for coordinates employee leave programs and ensures compliance with applicable federal and state laws and company policies. Serving as a central point of contact, this role partners with employees, managers, HR, payroll, and third-party administrators to support a positive experience throughout the leave process.

The Specialist advises employees and managers on leave eligibility, benefits, pay continuation, disability programs, and return-to-work requirements while managing cases promptly and in compliance with applicable requirements. The role also monitors leave activity, resolves escalated issues, collaborates with internal and external partners, and helps improve leave administration processes.

In this role, a typical day will include:

• Administer and coordinate employee leave and disability programs, including FMLA, state Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML), personal, military, and company-sponsored leaves.
• Serve as the primary resource for employees and managers on leave policies, eligibility, benefits continuation, and return-to-work requirements.
• Collaborate with third-party leave administrators, disability carriers, payroll, HRIS, benefits, and HR Business Partners to process leave cases accurately and on time.
• Manage leave cases from initiation through certification, approval, extension, return to work, and closure.
• Coordinate accommodation and return-to-work activities with HR, Legal, and Employee Relations, as appropriate.
• Maintain compliance with applicable federal, state, and local leave requirements, including FMLA, USERRA, ADA, state leave laws, and company policies.
• Support leave-related payroll and benefits activities, including disability payments, benefit deductions, direct billing, and coverage continuation.
• Investigate and resolve complex leave issues, escalations, and employee inquiries.
• Maintain accurate records, documentation, and reports to meet compliance and audit requirements.
• Analyze leave trends and processes to identify and recommend operational improvements.

WHAT YOU’LL BRING TO ALCON:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in human resources, Business Administration, or related field, or equivalent work experience.
• Experience: 3-5 year administering leave of absence, disability, and accommodations, or related HR programs.
• High level of customer service orientation and the ability to communicate clearly with colleagues, vendors, and stakeholders.
• Knowledge of FMLA, ADA, state leave laws, disability programs, and benefits administration preferred.
• Experience working with third-party leave administrators.
• Experience with HRIS and case management systems (e.g., Workday).
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with a customer-service mindset.
• Ability to manage sensitive and confidential employee information.
• High attention to detail, accuracy, and follow-through, especially with data.
• Comfort working with data, reports, Excel, and Word.
• Basic understanding of service metrics and data quality concepts.
• Ability to learn and follow defined processes, standards, and escalation paths.
• Ability to identify opportunities to improve processes and enhance efficiency.
• Ability to fluently speak, read, write, understand, and communicate in English.

HOW YOU CAN THRIVE AT ALCON:

• Opportunity to join a growing, early-stage organization built within a mature, stable global company.
• Friendly working environment and a diverse and highly motivated team
• Individual career development plan and possible career growth within a newly created account
• Truly international environment and daily interactions with colleagues and stakeholders from all over the world
• Attractive benefits & compensation package

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Alcon is an Equal Opportunity Employer and takes pride in maintaining a diverse environment and our policies are not to discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

About Us

At Alcon, we are committed to helping people see better. We believe patients should have access to quality eye care regardless of their economic circumstances; however, barriers to good eye health exist for patients in both developed and emerging markets. Alcon develops and manufactures innovative devices to serve the full life cycle of eye care needs. Its surgical group is one of the largest makers of equipment used for cataract removal and laser vision correction. Its consumer products include the well-known Opti-Free line of contact lens solutions and related products. Alcon, which was founded in 1945, sells its products in 180 countries worldwide.