********************Amendment Issued 11-16-18********************
Please see below under QUALIFYING EXPERIENCE FOR TAKING THE TEST

**********************Application Fee Waiver**********************

Employees of Erie County CSEA collective bargaining unit shall have all fees associated with County provided promotional civil service examinations waived.

Residence Requirements:

THIS EXAMINATION IS OPEN TO ALL QUALIFIED EMPLOYEES OF THE ERIE COUNTY  MEDICAL CENTER CORPORATION. At present thereare two vacancies at the Erie County Medical Center Corporation. 

Examples of Duties:

A Benefit Assistant assists in the administration of benefit programs for employees and retirees of the Erie County Medical Center Corporation; 

Provides explanation of benefits such as health insurance, life insurance, New York State Retirement, disability retirement, COBRA, deferred compensation, flexible spending accounts and annual Open Enrollment;

Reviews documentation to process benefit applications; processes benefit enrollment applications and qualifying changes and submits to third-party organizations;

Inputs and maintains data input into electronic software applications; prepares and maintains detailed databases and/or spreadsheets to track benefit submission and payments into benefit plans by employees and retired employees;

Prepares and distributes statistical reports and related documents;

Interprets provisions of collective bargaining agreements or managerial/confidential terms of employment for administering benefit plans;

Reviews, determines and advises on benefit eligibility dates;

Performs various calculations including liabilities, premium calculation and premium remittances; communicates premium payment obligations to employees and retired employees;

Assists in the develops and implementation of communication campaigns for benefit-related activities such as Open Enrollment, Benefit Fairs and Wellness activities; assists in coordinating and participates in benefit-related activities;

Reviews and reconciles invoices from insurance vendors with employee deductions;

May assist in the performance of audits of benefit records to ensure accuracy and compliance with organizational policies and collective bargaining agreements;

Serves as liaison to the Finance Department for benefit-related matters;

Participates in and may organize meetings, committees, benefit-related events and conferences.

Qualifications:

********************Amendment Issued 11-16-18********************

QUALIFYING EXPERIENCE FOR TAKING THE TEST: Candidates must be permanently employed in the competitive class and must be serving and have served continuously on a permanent or contingent permanent basis in the competitive class for ***DELETE 24 months ***ADD 12 months immediately preceding the date of the written test in the position of  Junior Personnel Clerk-ECMCC, Personnel Clerk or Personnel Clerk-ECMC plus the following: 

A.) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree in and one (1) year of experience in benefit administration, of which included processing or advising on employer-provided benefit programs and utilizing Microsoft Excel applications; or:

B.) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with an Associate’s Degree or completion of sixty (60) semester credits hours and three (3) years of experience in benefit administration, of which included processing or advising on employer-provided benefit programs and utilizing Microsoft Excel applications; or:

C.) An equivalent combination of training and experience as defined by the limits of (A) and (B).

Notes:

1. Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting the experience requirements.

2. Your degree and/or college credit must have been awarded by a regionally accredited college or university or one recognized by the New York State Education Department as following acceptable educational practices. A grade of "D" or better is necessary for a course to be credited as successfully completed. If your degree and/or college credit was awarded by an educational institution outside of the United States and its territories, you must provide independent verification of equivalency. You can write to this Department for a list of acceptable companies providing this service; you must pay the required evaluation fee.

Notice to Candidates: Transcripts will now be accepted by the Department of Personnel ONLY at time of application.
All subsequent transcripts must be submitted at time of interview.

The New York State Department of Civil Service has not prepared a test guide for this examination. However,candidates may find information in the publication "How to take a written test" helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available on line at: https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm

Subjects of Examination:

SUBJECTS OF EXAMINATION:  A written test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas:

1. Office record keeping

These questions test your ability to perform common office record keeping tasks. The test consists of two or more "sets" of questions, each set concerning a different problem. Typical record keeping problems might involve the organization or collation of data from several sources; scheduling; maintaining a record system using running balances; or completion of a table summarizing data using totals, subtotals, averages and percents. You should bring with you a hand-held battery- or solar-powered calculator for use on this test. You will not be permitted to use the calculator function of your cell phone.

2. Preparing written material

These questions test for the ability to present information clearly and accurately, and to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given paragraphs with their sentences out of order. You must then choose, from four suggestions, the best order for the sentences.

3. Public contact principles and practices

These questions test for knowledge of techniques used to interact with other people, to gather and present information, and to provide assistance, advice, and effective customer service in a courteous and professional manner. Questions will cover such topics as understanding and responding to people with diverse needs, perspectives, personalities, and levels of familiarity with agency operations, as well as acting in a way that both serves the public and reflects well on your agency.

4. Understanding and interpreting written material

These questions test for the ability to understand and interpret written material. You will be presented with brief reading passages and will be asked questions about the passages. You should base your answers to the questions only on what is presented in the passages and not on what you may happen to know about the topic. 

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES: Unless otherwise noted, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand held, solar or battery powered calculators. Devices with typewriter keyboards, "Spell Checkers", “Personal Digital Assistants", "Address Books", "Language Translators", "Dictionaries", or any similar devices are prohibited. You may not bring books or other reference materials.

INFORMATION FOR PROMOTION CANDIDATES

 Unless otherwise indicated, the eligible list resulting from this examination will have a duration of four years and will not supersede existing promotional lists, if any.

RATINGS REQUIRED:  Test is rated on a scale of 100 with a passing mark at 70.  Test instructions may further divide the tests into parts and set minimum standards for each part.

Points will be added to scores of candidates who achieve a passing mark as follows: Seniority:  For each year of service in the classified service:

Less than 1 year……………………..................…0 points

1 year up to 6 years…………….…........................1 point

Over 6 years up to 11 years.....………......….........2 points

Over 11 years up to 16 years….…........….........…3 points

Over 16 years up to 21 years………..................…4 points

Over 21 years………………………..................…5 points

VETERANS:  Disabled and non-disabled veterans as defined in Section 85, New York State Civil Service Law, will have 5 and 2.5 points, respectively added to their earned scores if successful in the examination.  You must claim these credits when you file application but you have an option to waive them any time prior to appointment.  If you have already used these credits for a permanent position in NYS, you may not claim them again.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A None filing fee is required for this exam. The required fee must accompany your application. Send or bring check or money order made payable to Erie County Personnel Department and write the examination number(s) on your check or money order. Do not send or bring cash, as the County cannot be responsible for cash payment. As no refund will be made, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the requirements for admission and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified.