CERTIFIED EMPLOYEE BENEFIT SPECIALIST

A professional designation available in both the United States and Canada that indicates a human resource professional's expertise in employee benefits. The program is overseen by the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and at Dalhousie University in Canada. A certified employee benefit specialist has a vast understanding of compensation structures.

U.S. courses cover group health plan design, group benefits management, healthcare financing and economics, retirement plan design, retirement plan management, asset management, human resources and compensation management, compensation concepts and principles, executive compensation, basic personal financial planning, and tax and estate planning. Canadian coursework is slightly different; it covers principles of group benefits, applications of group benefits, healthcare economics and issues, retirement income programs, asset management, government-sponsored benefits, compensation concepts and principles, executive compensation, human resource management, and basic personal financial planning.