HR Specialist: Payroll & Benefits

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF POSITION

The HR Specialist (Payroll and Benefits) is responsible for performing a variety of human resource functions to support the HR department’s objectives of providing timely, accurate, efficient, and effective customer service to all types of personnel related to all functions of human resources such as, but not limited to payroll administration, benefits administration, safety and workers’ compensation program management benefits and wellness education, leave of absence management, and HRIS management related to payroll, compensation, and benefits. The main duties of the HR Specialist will include processing payroll and related tasks, providing education regarding benefit options, conducting meetings regarding benefits and/or benefit related programs including leave of absences, ensuring all staff are enrolled in correct coverages, and reconciling all benefit invoices and serving as a link between management and employees by handling questions, interpreting and administering polices and helping resolve work-related problems.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

This position requires face to face interactions with staff, board, vendors, and the general public on a daily basis to accomplish all essential functions of the position. 

• PAYROLL ADMINISTRATION: Responsible for processing employee payroll, including salary, hourly, and contract workers ensuring accuracy, on-time payment, compliance with federal, state, and local laws related to wage and hour/payroll, and confidentiality to include, but not limited to maintaining and updating payroll related data including hours worked, time-off, stipends, incentives, benefits, deductions, and expense reimbursements in the payroll system; processing payroll on biweekly basis on time, ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local payroll and tax laws including withholding, reporting, and remittance of payroll taxes, maintaining detailed payroll records, including employee earnings, taxes, and deductions, and keeping them organized and secure for compliance reporting and audits, maintaining and updating HRIS as it relates to payroll and compensation, calculating and processing benefit deductions, retirement contributions and match, creating and processing personnel action forms, direct deposit forms, W-4 forms, voluntary deduction forms, child care deductions, benefit enrollments and termination deductions, reconciling enrollment to carrier’s statements to ensure employees are properly enrolled and deductions/memos are accurate in the HRIS, qualifying events, retirement elections and changes, retirement match memos, auto pays, all fringe benefits, department changes, position changes, allocation changes, longevity awards, accurately calculating pay for salaried new hires and terminations, and accurately calculating Vacation payouts; reviewing the time and labor management system to ensure all time cards are accurate and time transactions for missing or incorrect punches are edited, all leave requests or leave for absences for the pay period have been entered or approved/rejected, all types of pay (regular, overtime, vacation, sick, holiday, incentive, united way, jury, bereavement, etc.) are properly applied and follow any applicable policy and accurately import the data into the HRIS for payroll processing; reviewing the expense management system to ensure all applicable mileage and expenses have been approved, processing all mileage and expenses for payment, and downloading necessary reports; generate payroll reports, pay stubs, year-end tax forms, and other required reports; reconciling the payroll check register to the Payroll Excel Spreadsheet to ensure that pay and allocations are accurate, resolving payroll discrepancies by collecting and analyzing information, submitting payroll timely, accurately, and compliantly with regards to deadlines, payroll laws and regulations; responding to inquiries regarding pay, taxes, deductions, and payroll related matters. Resp