Employee benefits coordinator vs human resource specialist

The differences between employee benefits coordinators and human resource specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an employee benefits coordinator and a human resource specialist. Additionally, a human resource specialist has an average salary of $53,143, which is higher than the $42,484 average annual salary of an employee benefits coordinator.

The top three skills for an employee benefits coordinator include human resources, OSHA and workers compensation. The most important skills for a human resource specialist are data entry, oversight, and life insurance.

Employee benefits coordinator vs human resource specialist overview

	Employee Benefits Coordinator	Human Resource Specialist
Yearly salary	$42,484	$53,143
Hourly rate	$20.43	$25.55
Growth rate	2%	8%
Number of jobs	22,910	50,511
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age	46	41
Years of experience	6	6

What does an employee benefits coordinator do?

An employee benefits coordinator works at a company's human resources department, where they are in charge of overseeing benefits programs and assisting employees in its enrollment procedures. Their responsibilities usually include answering inquiries, discussing benefits and retirement plans, helping employees process their requirements, and updating employees with any changes related to their applications. They must also liaise with benefits and insurance providers, assist the human resources staff in maintaining and updating employee records, and conduct regular reviews and assessments to ensure that all procedures adhere to standards and regulations.

What does a human resource specialist do?

A human resources specialist is responsible for assisting in the recruitment and staffing process. Duties of a human resources specialist include updating the requirements and qualifications of a job post, handling employees' inquiries regarding compensation and benefits, maintaining employees' records, updating the status of new joiners, tracking performance reviews, and generating reports as business requires. A human resource specialist must be detail-oriented, as well as excellent in organizational and communication skills. Additionally, a human resource specialist must have a broad knowledge of the recruitment process and structure.

Employee benefits coordinator vs human resource specialist salary

Employee benefits coordinators and human resource specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Employee Benefits Coordinator	Human Resource Specialist
Average salary	$42,484	$53,143
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $59,000	Between $36,000 And $77,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	New Jersey
Best paying company	-	Meta
Best paying industry	-	Government

Differences between employee benefits coordinator and human resource specialist education

There are a few differences between an employee benefits coordinator and a human resource specialist in terms of educational background:

	Employee Benefits Coordinator	Human Resource Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Employee benefits coordinator vs human resource specialist demographics

Here are the differences between employee benefits coordinators' and human resource specialists' demographics:

	Employee Benefits Coordinator	Human Resource Specialist
Average age	46	41
Gender ratio	Male, 17.5% Female, 82.5%	Male, 26.9% Female, 73.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 3.4% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% Asian, 6.7% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 19.0% Asian, 7.6% White, 56.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	35%	9%

Differences between employee benefits coordinator and human resource specialist duties and responsibilities

Employee benefits coordinator example responsibilities.

Lead departmental PeopleSoft projects and initiatives; involve in systems testing when additional system upgrades are implemented.
Enter benefit enrollments and update internal and external HRIS.
Maintain and update employee records via HRIS system.
Calculate hourly employees and process payroll through outside service ADP.
Process release of information requests according to company and HIPAA policy.
Assist with educating employees with the leave of absence process for FMLA.

Human resource specialist example responsibilities.

Manage site KRONOS payroll, time and attendance, and vacation tracking for hourly.
Manage new hire and current employee paperwork that includes status change forms, W-4s, I-9s, etc.
Lead a compliance initiative to ensure successful transition to the e-Verify employment verification process.
Integrate efforts on actions and programs where joint OPM functional effort are necessary to accomplish recruitment and enhance organizational effectiveness.
Advise, coach, and counsele managers and Sr.
Assist with affirmative action reporting, VETS100 and EEO-1 submission.

Employee benefits coordinator vs human resource specialist skills

Common employee benefits coordinator skills

Human Resources, 11%
OSHA, 9%
Workers Compensation, 8%
PowerPoint, 8%
Background Checks, 7%
Cobra, 6%

Common human resource specialist skills

Data Entry, 10%
Oversight, 9%
Life Insurance, 9%
Human Resources Policies, 8%
Customer Service, 7%
Timekeeping, 5%

Employee Benefits Coordinator vs. similar jobs

Employee Benefits Coordinator related careers

Employee Benefits Coordinator related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Executive Management Industry
Employee Benefits Coordinator
Employee Benefits Coordinator vs Human Resource Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse executive management jobs