Payroll & Benefits Specialist

Payroll Compliance Professional Certification Required.
Term Assignment until October 15, 2027.

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. Our commitment to providing a quality education extends beyond academic excellence; we are committed to creating and cultivating diverse, inclusive, and barrier‑free environments for all applicants, employees, students, and their families.

Our identity, as Surrey Schools, is expressed in the shared values of openness, fairness and tolerance and recognizes the importance of diversity of identity and thought. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

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.

Tasks include calculating pay, benefits, and applicable adjustments; providing guidance and support to employees in their use of online payroll applications; and ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. Problem solving involves analyzing situations, determining an appropriate course of action, and communicating effective solutions to various stakeholders involved. Payroll & Benefits Specialists apply collective agreements and employment terms and conditions for multiple employee groups and must maintaining confidentiality of sensitive information.

A Payroll & Benefits Specialist reports to a Payroll & Benefits Team Leader and Management.

• 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…