Payroll Clerk jobs in Massachusetts

Payroll Clerk

Position Purpose:

The purposes of this position are to prepare all school department payrolls including maintaining employee payroll records and affiliations, withholdings and deductions, benefits, detailed and summary reports and answering employee payroll questions. A Payroll Clerk is responsible for maintaining and improving upon the efficiency and effectiveness of all areas under his/her direction and control. All actions should adhere to the policies set by the School Committee and District Administration.

Supervision:

Supervision Scope: Responsible for the accuracy of payrolls and payroll records, payroll preparation, and benefit accruals and distributions.

Supervision Received: Works under the general and specific direction of the Head Payroll Clerk. The position is subject to review and evaluation according to the School’s personnel policies and procedures.

Supervision Given: None.

Job Environment:

Payroll and related work is performed in a busy interior office with moderate noise and is subject to recurring interruptions.

Operates telephones, computers, copiers, facsimile machines, and other standard office equipment utilizing the City’s payroll system, spreadsheets and other office automation software.

Has frequent contact with school staff, vendors, other governmental and tax reporting organizations requiring patience, tact and discretion. Communications involve multiple media e.g., face to face discussion, telephone, e-mail, financial and other reports, and hard copy correspondence.

Essential Functions:

(The essential functions or duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related or a logical assignment to the position.)

• Prepares all school payrolls; calculates, implements and explains payroll changes and adjustments; calculates and implements compensation adjustments; calculates and applies summer pay selections; implements union collective bargaining agreements and individual employee contracts

• Maintains employee payroll records e.g., records appropriate deductions and withholdings

• Provides information about benefit and payroll changes to employees and assists in helping employees understand changes

• Prepares, produces and distributes various payroll related reports

• Provides employment and earnings verifications and reports regarding mortgages, housing, social security…etc

• Creates and updates new employee packets

• Provides assistance to employees on understanding and completing all necessary payroll forms

• Establishes and maintains employee information with outside agencies; i.e. IRS OBRA, etc

• Maintain attendance/absence related information within the payroll system and on-line absentee application. Generates daily and historical absentee reports

Other Functions:

• May assume some of the duties of his/her supervisor in the supervisor’s absence

• Performs similar or related work as required or as the situation dictates

Errors and Omissions:

Errors or omissions, inadequate coordination, untimely work, inaccuracies may result in service delays, rework from inaccuracies, financial loss and may have legal ramifications

Physical and Mental Effort:

The work is primarily of an intellectual nature requiring close attention to detail while operating under the pressures of deadlines, procedural requirements and recurring customer service demands. The employee is frequently required to sit, walk, talk and/or hear; stand, use hands to keyboard and manipulate objects common to an office. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close and distance vision and the ability to adjust focus. This position requires the ability to efficiently operate a keyboard, calculator and computer. The employee must be able to hear normal sounds, distinguish sound as voice patterns and communicate through human speech using American English.

Minimum Required Qualifications:

Education Training and Experience:

Applicants for this position must have graduated from an accredited high school or possess a GED, have at least two years of financial processing experience in payroll or bookkeeping.

Special Requirements:

Applicant must pass appropriate civil service test

Knowledge, Ability and Skill:

Knowledge: Applicants for this position must have a demonstrated knowledge of financial processing and reconciliation and knowledge of how to use computer based payroll systems, word processing, spreadsheets, database, electronic mail, and how information technology provides for the effective and accurate maintenance of payroll data and information. Incumbents must be well organized and understand procedural requirements for the office where assigned.

Ability: Applicants for this position must demonstrate the ability to master detailed procedural, control and financial reporting requirements within reasonable periods of time, consistently produce accurate work and coordinate multiple activities and set priorities. Incumbents must consistently meet procedural deadlines, produce accurate work, coordinate his/her work with others in a courteous and effective manner, and produce routine and specialized reports and act within the scope of his/her delegated authority.

Skill: Applicants for this position must have demonstrated skill in organizing work, meeting deadlines while working under the pressures of other service demands and in providing courteous effective customer service. Applicants and incumbents in this position must have good interpersonal skills and ability to multitask. Incumbents in this position must consistently demonstrate strong skills in payroll preparation and accuracy, adherence to required procedures, the use of technology to produce accurate timely payrolls and related reports and to provide courteous communications and coordination.

(For positions covered by civil service regulations, the established requirements of civil service shall be substituted for the recommended minimum qualifications listed here. No part of this position description shall restrict or exclude the eligibility of candidates for employment or advancement as defined by the regulations of the civil service system.)

(This job description does not constitute an employment agreement between the employer and the employee. It is used as a guide for personnel actions and is subject to change by the employer as the needs and requirements of the job change.)

Non-Discrimination Notice: Waltham Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, disability, national origin, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation.

Waltham Public Schools has partnered with the Massachusetts Partnership for Diversity in Education (MPDE) in our effort to welcome diverse candidates to our school system. We value and prioritize the hiring of educators who bring a wealth of perspectives and experiences to our schools, and who reflect the diversity of the students we serve.

MPDE is a collaborative of public school districts with a 40-year uninterrupted history committed to supporting the interest of its members to increase the numbers of teachers of color for their schools by providing recruitment support and related services.