Human Resources / Payroll Specialist

Member of the Human Resources team who performs Human Resources-related duties at the professional level. Works closely with senior HR team members in supporting a wide range of employee populations from office, to retail, to farming in HR-related areas such as recruitment, onboarding, leaves of absence, wage and hour topics, etc. Oversees and processes full-cycle payroll operations, ensuring accuracy and timeliness, as well as answering general employee questions regarding payroll, benefits, pay stubs, and withholdings. This position uses an understanding of Kronos Workforce Ready payroll system to accurately pay employees in compliance with federal and state laws and regulations, such as Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) rules and regulations.

Essential Functions

Payroll Functions

• Ensures that employee payroll processing is in compliance with federal and state laws.
• Assures proper tax treatment, accounting, and disposition of withholdings such as taxes, deductions for benefits, retirement contributions, etc.
• Audits payrolls for accuracy, includes auditing a mixture of pay codes with corresponding workers’ compensation codes; auditing W-4s and complies with IRS compliance letters; audits vacation, sick and PTO accruals to correctly correspond with our policy.
• Exercises a great deal of attention to detail to accurately prepare and process payrolls.
• Reconciles payroll prior to transmission and validates confirmed reports.
• Manages workflow to ensure that employee payroll is processed accurately and timely, including auditing payroll and timesheet activities.
• Understands proper taxation of employer paid benefits.
• Manages HRIS system changes, module implementations and system policies.
• Process correct garnishment calculations and compliance
• Processes out of cycle pay runs such as final checks.
• Assists in payroll accounting, transactions, reporting, stop payments and other operations.
• Oversees tax calculations and filing activities as per IRS regulations.
• Enters client employee maintenance into Payroll System to guarantee reflection on the next payroll run, including new hire paperwork, address changes, benefits, PTO/ Vacation/Sick accruals and payments, job changes, terminations, and W-4 modifications.
• Processes accurate and timely quarter-end and year-end reporting (W-2, W-2c, ACA forms, etc.)
• Responds to payroll queries from employees in a timely manner.
• Analyzes payroll issues and recommends corrective actions.
• Ensures payroll system is up-to-date and accurate.
• Maintains employee payroll records and timesheet data for future references.
• Provides system training to managers and employees as needed.

Human Resource Functions

• Helps conduct newhire orientations and other onboarding activities.
• Supports the main recruiting function with creating job descriptions, job postings, sourcing resumes, initial phone screens, etc.
• Leads HR projects as assigned.
• Ensures the accurate set-up and functionality of various HRIS modules.
• Helps maintain compliance with federal, state and local employment and benefits laws and regulations.
• Files EEO-1 report annually; and maintains other records, reports and logs to conform to EEO regulations.
• Maintains company organization charts and the employee directory.
• Assists in the development and implementation of employment policies and procedures.
• Site visits as needed.

Other Essential Functions

• Participates in developing department goals, objectives and systems

• Maintains a high focus on customer service to each internal customer.

• Consistently demonstrates a high level of integrity in all areas.
• Works collaboratively in a team environment with a spirit of cooperation
• Displays excellent communication skills including presentation, persuasion, and negotiation skills required in working with customers and coworkers and including the ability to communicate effectively and remain calm and courteous under pressure.
• Respectfully takes direction from their manager.

Supervisory responsibilities: This position has no direct supervisory responsibilities but does serve as a coach and mentor for managers using the payroll and timekeeping systems.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Bachelor’s degree preferred, ideally in the field of Accounting or Business.
• CPP and/or PHR credential preferred.
• 4-6 years of Human Resources experience, with growing levels of responsibility.
• 3+ years of experience processing payroll, preferably in Kronos and/or Bamboo.
• 3+ years of HRIS management experience.
• In-depth knowledge of payroll best practices.
• Strong knowledge of federal and state regulations.
• Ability to deal sensitively with confidential material.
• Desire to bring creativity and mental agility to a dynamic, growth environment.
• Effective decision-making and problem-solving skills
• High level of professionalism and ability to balance urgency and decisiveness with patience and compassion.
• Ability to manage multiple projects independently and meet deadlines under pressure.
• Ability to effectively communicate, interact and build relationships with a diverse employee population.
• Advanced Excel skills.
• Requires frequent use of discretion, decision-making, creativity, negotiation, basic and advanced math, and exercise of independent judgment.