Payroll & Benefits Specialist
3Rivers Payroll & Benefits Specialist
Nature of Work: The Payroll & Benefits Specialist is responsible for accurate, timely, and well-controlled weekly payroll processing and for the day-to-day administration and reconciliation of employee benefit programs. The position also administers employee leaves, including FMLA, Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave, and other approved leaves, and supports compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The role requires strong payroll judgment, disciplined follow-through, precise documentation, confidentiality, and the ability to identify, investigate, resolve, and promptly escalate discrepancies. The Specialist partners closely with managers, Human Resources, Finance, employees, benefit carriers, brokers, and system vendors to maintain accurate records and deliver responsive service.
Essential Functions:
Payroll Administration and Controls
- Process weekly payroll in the HRIS/payroll system in accordance with the established payroll calendar and submission deadlines.
- Enter and validate employee pay changes, status changes, deductions, garnishments, direct deposits, tax changes, leave accruals, retroactive adjustments, and other authorized payroll transactions.
- Run and review pre-processing audit and exception reports; investigate unusual entries or variances before payroll is finalized.
- Confirm required approvals and supporting documentation are complete. Escalate missing approvals or unresolved discrepancies before the payroll deadline.
- Complete and retain the payroll processing checklist, control totals, approvals, and reconciliation documentation for each payroll cycle.
- Conduct post-payroll review and reconciliation, identify errors, coordinate corrections, and document root causes and preventive actions.
- Maintain accurate payroll records in accordance with agency policy, legal requirements, and record-retention standards.
- Serve as the primary point of contact for employee payroll questions; research issues, communicate findings clearly, and resolve or escalate concerns promptly.
- Identify recurring timekeeping, payroll, or data-entry issues and recommend training, controls, or process improvements.
Benefits Administration and Reconciliation:
- Administer employee enrollments, changes, qualifying life events, and terminations for health, dental, vision, life, disability, retirement, and other agency-sponsored benefits.
- Coordinate the effective start and stop dates of benefits and payroll deductions to meet payroll, carrier, and plan deadlines.
- Perform monthly reconciliation of benefit carrier invoices, enrollment records, and payroll deductions.
- Identify and resolve discrepancies, including missing deductions, incorrect coverage levels, terminated employees remaining on invoices, retroactive adjustments, and benefit arrears.
- Maintain clear documentation of reconciliation findings, corrections, credits, refunds, and unresolved items; prepare reconciliation reports for HR and Finance review.
- Respond to employee benefit questions accurately and courteously and provide education regarding enrollment processes, plan resources, and applicable deadlines.
- Support annual open enrollment, new-hire benefit orientation, benefit communications, and employee training.
- Coordinate with benefit carriers, brokers, vendors, Finance, and HR to resolve administrative or billing issues.
- Prepare reports and analyze benefit data to identify trends, data-quality issues, service concerns, and opportunities for improvement.
- Assist the Director of Human Resources and CHRO with benefit research, plan administration, and implementation of approved benefit changes.
Leave Administration:
- Administer employee leaves, including federal FMLA, Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave, other legally protected leaves, and agency-approved nonqualified leaves.
- Receive and review leave requests; provide required notices, forms, certifications, deadlines, and employee guidance in a timely and consistent manner.
- Maintain confidential and accurate leave files, tracking logs, designation records, intermittent leave usage, return-to-work information, and required communications.
- Coordinate leave dates, pay status, benefit deductions, benefit continuation, accrual impacts, and payroll coding with the employee, manager, HR, Finance, and applicable vendors.
- Monitor certification and recertification deadlines, exhaustion dates, return-to-work requirements, and other case milestones; follow up and escalate as necessary.
- Communicate appropriate scheduling and status information to leaders while protecting confidential medical information.
- Respond to employee and manager leave inquiries and resolve routine issues promptly; refer complex, legal, accommodation, or employee-relations matters to HR leadership.
- Prepare and distribute leave reports and status updates for HR and authorized leadership.
- Support the coordination of leave administration with disability benefits.
Affordable Care Act Compliance:
- Monitor employee eligibility for health coverage under applicable ACA requirements, including hours-of-service tracking for variable-hour and part-time employees.
- Maintain accurate measurement, administrative, and stability-period records and ensure eligibility determinations are documented.
- Generate and review ACA-related reports to identify missing data, eligibility concerns, coverage gaps, or other compliance risks.
- Coordinate with HRIS, payroll, benefits, and external vendors to ensure accurate data collection and reporting.
- Support preparation, review, correction, and distribution of required ACA forms and reports in coordination with HR leadership and external partners.
- Stay current on assigned ACA procedures and vendor guidance; promptly elevate regulatory questions or potential compliance concerns to HR leadership.
- Serve as a point of contact for internal and external ACA data requests, audits, and documentation needs.
Compliance, Reporting, and Process Improvement:
- Ensure payroll, benefits, leave, and ACA processes are completed in accordance with applicable laws, plan requirements, agency policies, and established procedures.
- Maintain payroll, benefits, leave, and compliance calendars, checklists, standard operating procedures, and desk guides.
- Support internal and external audits by providing timely, accurate, and complete documentation.
- Prepare recurring and ad hoc reports for HR and Finance leadership and verify report accuracy before distribution.
- Protect confidential employee, medical, payroll, and financial information and limit access to authorized individuals.
- Disclose errors promptly, take ownership of corrections, and assist in identifying the root cause and preventive action.
- Participate in HR, payroll, benefits, leave, and HRIS projects and process-improvement initiatives.
- Cross-train in essential HR administrative functions to provide coverage during absences or high-volume periods.
Employee Discount Program:
- Research, establish, and maintain an employee discount program with local vendors.
- Promote program availability and maintain up-to-date vendor information for employees.
- Periodically assess usage and satisfaction to ensure program value.
Other Duties: Please note that this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time.
Additional Expectations
- Cross-train in other HR Administrative functions to provide coverage during absences or high-volume periods.
- Support HR / Payroll / Benefits projects as assigned.
- Ability to work flexible hours, including occasional evenings or weekends, based on agency needs.
- Travel between agency locations as necessary for training, audits, or meetings.
- Commitment to confidentiality, ethical standards, professional values, and accuracy in all payroll and benefits-related functions.
- Ability to meet strict payroll processing deadlines consistently.
Agency Core Values:
- Accountability: We take ownership of our actions, follow through on commitments, and hold ourselves and each other to high standards.
- Adaptability: We embrace change, stay open to feedback, and grow through learning and evolving together.
- Collaboration: We work as one team, listening, supporting, and building on each other’s strengths.
- Empowerment: We support individuals in making their own choices, fostering independence, self-expression, and valuing every voice and experience with respect and empathy.
- Community: We believe in the power of connection and community. We are dedicated to serving, placing the needs and well-being of those we support at the center of all we do.
Work Schedule, Travel, and Physical Requirements:
- Primarily operates in a professional office environment, with periodic visits to agency program sites.
- Must be available during payroll processing periods and may occasionally work additional hours, evenings, or weekends to meet payroll, year-end, open enrollment, audit, or project deadlines.
- Must be able to travel independently between agency locations and meetings, trainings, audits, or vendor sites as needed.
- Regularly required to sit, stand, walk, use hands to operate office equipment, and communicate in person and through phone or video conferencing.
- May occasionally be required to lift and carry up to 35 pounds, such as supplies, records, or equipment.
Required Competencies:
- Exceptional accuracy and attention to detail, with a consistent habit of reviewing and verifying work.
- Strong reconciliation, analytical, and problem-solving skills; the ability to trace discrepancies to their source.
- Ability to organize work around fixed deadlines and manage multiple time-sensitive priorities without losing follow-through.
- High level of integrity, discretion, accountability, and sound judgment when handling confidential information.
- Ability to communicate payroll, benefit, and leave information clearly and professionally to employees and leaders.
- Ability to follow established controls and procedures while identifying practical opportunities for improvement.
- Comfort asking questions, seeking clarification, and escalating unresolved issues before they create payroll or compliance risk.
- Ability to learn and use HRIS, payroll, benefits, leave, and reporting systems effectively.
- Collaborative approach and ability to work productively with HR, Finance, managers, employees, vendors, and external partners.
Qualifications:
- High school diploma or equivalent required. Associate degree in accounting, business administration, human resources, or related field preferred.
- Minimum of three years of recent, hands-on payroll processing experience required; experience processing payroll for a multi-location, 24/7, or human-services workforce strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated experience with benefits enrollment, payroll deductions, carrier billing, and benefit reconciliation required.
- Experience administering employee leaves and tracking FMLA or comparable leave programs strongly preferred.
- Experience with ACA eligibility tracking or reporting preferred; ability to learn and consistently follow ACA procedures required.
- Working knowledge of payroll practices, wage-and-hour requirements, payroll taxes and deductions, recordkeeping, and confidentiality standards.
- Proficiency with HRIS/payroll systems and intermediate Microsoft Excel skills, including sorting, filtering, formulas, lookups, and reconciliation of data sets.
- Demonstrated record of meeting strict deadlines, maintaining accurate documentation, resolving discrepancies, and communicating errors promptly.
- Payroll or benefits certification, such as FPC, CPP, CEBS, or SHRM-CP, is preferred but not required.
- Ability to pass all required background checks:
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- Adult/Child Protective Services,
- Criminal history,
- OIG Exclusions list,
- National Sex Offender Registry
- Bureau of Motor Vehicles,
- Maine CNA / Direct Care Registry