Payroll & Benefits Specialist

Payroll Compliance Professional certification required.

1.0 Full-Time Temporary Role

Surrey Schools values an inclusive school district where equity is deeply embedded, and diversity welcomed. We acknowledge the profound responsibility we all have in ensuring that our schools and district sites foster an atmosphere where everyone feels secure, respected, and valued.

Payroll & Benefits Specialists performs a variety of complex tasks to ensure that employee pay, and benefits are processed accurately and on time. The work is complex and mission critical, and requires strong judgement, problem solving skills, and attention to detail.

Payroll & Benefits Specialists have the primary responsibility to account for extremely large expenditures of wages and benefits. The work requires continual concentration in analyzing and processing large volumes of data from a variety of data sources to meet inflexible deadlines; troubleshooting and resolving discrepancies; explaining pay, benefits, deductions, and entitlements to employees; and responding to inquiries from internal and external stakeholders.

• Contributes to departmental development through participation in reviews of operations, developments of goals and objectives and implementation of operating initiatives.
• Recommends changes to improve quality, efficiency, service satisfaction and cycle time.
• Establishes methodologies for consistent work within the work unit and maintains required procedures manual.
• Monitors operations to ensure adherence to internal controls and achievement of quality, service standards and deadlines, and acts to correct concerns.
• Communicates with other units, staff, users and external parties to resolve complex and unusual issues.
• Analyses complex and sensitive accounts to determine adjustments and actions. Assists management to address major accounting, financial reporting and taxation issues.
• Tests Payroll software (ERP system) and troubleshoots routine system problems on as needed basis.
• Designs and utilizes complex spreadsheets. Produces complex reports from databases using specialized software.
• Scheduling, organizing and conducting training classes.
• Provides customer service support and assistance by explaining and demonstrating Payroll processes and application software.
• Communicates with employees, school secretaries, principals, and managers to obtain and clarify information on as needed basis.
• Establishes methodologies for consistent work within the work unit and maintains required procedures manuals and documents. Makes recommended changes to established policies.

• Runs interfaces, conduct audit trails and uploads information into the payroll system to process payroll.
• Analyzes and processes employee staffing notifications (e.g. new hires, terminations, position changes, leaves of absence, transfers) to ensure accuracy of information in the payroll system.
• Calculates payroll adjustments such as special and top-up payments, shift premiums, vacation pay, retroactive pay, benefit premium deduction adjustments, paid leave entitlements, and final payments; all in accordance with internal requirements such as collective agreements and employment contracts, and external regulations and requirements set by government agencies such as the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), Service Canada, Worker’s Compensation Board, BC Pension Corporation, etc.
• Analyzes, processes, and maintains sick leave entitlement banks, vacation entitlement banks, banked overtime, seniority dates, probation periods, and pay scale increment experience banks.
• Runs pay processing, reviews payroll register and deduction arrears register, runs audits and checks for accuracy.
• Ensures payroll and benefits documents are stored and secured in accordance with record retention requirements including, but not limited to, the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Employment Standards Act, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), and school district record retention policies.
• Determines and applies taxable benefits to ensure that T4s are accurately reported in compliance with Canada Revenue Agency requirements.
• Calculates and processes wage garnishments accurately in compliance with legislative requirements.
• Recommends changes to improve quality, efficiency, service satisfaction and cycle time.
• Documents Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and updates work processes in correlation with the Payroll Team Leader.
• Issues Records of Employment in accordance with complex Service Canada requirements whenever applicable.
• Responds to a high volume of employee inquiries in relation to pay, entitlements (e.g. vacation, sick leave, and experience banks), and benefits (e.g. premium deductions, coverage and eligibility), and presents complex data in an understandable way to employees.
• Identifies and calculates over payments, including applicable adjustments to statutory and other deductions. Liaises with employee and the Payroll Team Leader regarding all over payment…