Benefits counselor vs hris manager

The differences between benefits counselors and hris managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a benefits counselor and a hris manager. Additionally, a hris manager has an average salary of $105,995, which is higher than the $72,268 average annual salary of a benefits counselor.

The top three skills for a benefits counselor include veterans, HR and open enrollment. The most important skills for a hris manager are project management, business processes, and performance management.

Benefits counselor vs hris manager overview

	Benefits Counselor	Hris Manager
Yearly salary	$72,268	$105,995
Hourly rate	$34.74	$50.96
Growth rate	7%	2%
Number of jobs	34,132	10,983
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Average age	45	46
Years of experience	6	6

What does a benefits counselor do?

A benefits counselor manages the company or organization's employee benefits programs. Job responsibilities may include designing and administering the benefits program to ensure company and employee needs are met, as well as assisting and educating employees in benefits enrollment activities. This job requires a full understanding of health care benefits, comprising medical, dental, and life insurance, including knowledge of pertinent regulations and legislation. In addition, benefits counselors may also need to be knowledgeable and updated with other incentives such as pensions and stock ownership.

What does a hris manager do?

An HRIS manager or commonly known as a human resource information system manager, is responsible for supporting and maintaining the company's HR systems. They primarily perform the complex task of making sure all HR systems are compliant with labor regulations and regularly updated. Typically, they oversee employee data information, including processing, HR-related report generation, system upgrades, and maintaining data integrity. They supervise the implementation and daily HRIS operation. Moreover, this job requires excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.

Benefits counselor vs hris manager salary

Benefits counselors and hris managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Benefits Counselor	Hris Manager
Average salary	$72,268	$105,995
Salary range	Between $44,000 And $118,000	Between $75,000 And $147,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	Mayer Brown
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between benefits counselor and hris manager education

There are a few differences between a benefits counselor and a hris manager in terms of educational background:

	Benefits Counselor	Hris Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Benefits counselor vs hris manager demographics

Here are the differences between benefits counselors' and hris managers' demographics:

	Benefits Counselor	Hris Manager
Average age	45	46
Gender ratio	Male, 34.3% Female, 65.7%	Male, 40.9% Female, 59.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 6.9% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 10.8% Unknown, 3.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 8.2% White, 67.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	9%	35%

Differences between benefits counselor and hris manager duties and responsibilities

Benefits counselor example responsibilities.

Manage vendors for medical, dental, pharmacy, vision, HSA, long-term care and work-life resource and referral programs.
Utilize HIPAA confidentiality of all employee data.
Follow all HIPAA guidelines as required by law.
Follow HIPPA by verifying the member's identity.
Handle plan claims and appeals in ERISA and non-ERISA plans.
Simplify and improve the FMLA process, procedures, and paperwork.

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Hris manager example responsibilities.

Deploy an integration tool to automate data loads between talent management and ERP system.
Manage the testing and development of interfaces for all medical and dental providers from ADP to vendors.
Manage Taleo optimization project to implement new features and streamline processes.
Manage information security within ADP and assign end-user security class appropriate for level of responsibility.
Manage multiple HRIS projects and prioritization to ensure resource allocation and budgeting priority of conflicting business requirements.
Standardize HRIS procedure and process documentation to meet departmental and SOX requirements.

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Benefits counselor vs hris manager skills

Common benefits counselor skills

Veterans, 20%
HR, 12%
Open Enrollment, 11%
Annuities, 9%
Customer Service, 5%
Term Disability, 3%

Common hris manager skills

Project Management, 11%
Business Processes, 6%
Performance Management, 5%
Process Improvement, 4%
Hr, 4%
Payroll, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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