Payroll Specialist at City of Santa Rosa

The City of Santa Rosa is hiring motivated, hardworking individuals to join our Payroll Team! This is an excellent opportunity for those seeking a rewarding career providing critical support to our City's public employees!

We celebrate a diverse workforce and welcome all qualified candidates to apply.

THE BENEFITS OF CITY EMPLOYMENT

• 12 paid holidays annually, plus 1 to 3 "floating holidays" per year depending on hire date and years of service


• $500 Annual wellness bonus


• Paid Family Leave:


• Flexible schedule (9/80 and 5/8) available with management approval


• The City of Santa Rosa is a Public Service Loan forgiveness Employer

ABOUT THE POSITION:

In this role you will perform a variety of highly specialized and complex technical and clerical accounting work related to the preparation and maintenance of an automated payroll system, including preparation and processing of the biweekly payroll and related disbursements and similar activities in the Payroll and Benefits Division of the Finance Department. Individuals in this position are required to have a working knowledge of payroll practices and municipal accounting practices and procedures involving multiple variables, complex accounting activities related to benefits, retirements programs, multiple Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), special pays, complex CalPERS (California Public Retirement System) formulas and calculations, state and federal tax laws and regulations, and a wide variety of routine and non-routine personnel transactions. 

 THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE:

The successful candidate will possess the following experience and attributes:

• Highly organized and detail oriented


• Excellent interpersonal and customer service skills


• Aptitude to learn and retain new skills quickly


• Two (2) years of payroll processing with a government agency or organization with labor unions


• Familiarity with an ERP or HRIS system


• Familiarity with FMLA, CFRA, PDL


• An understanding of general ledger and debits and credits highly desirable.


• Experience interpreting policies & procedures related to processing payroll


• Experience performing detailed numerical work with speed and accuracy


• Ability to multitask and juggle shifting priorities 


• Advanced Basic excel skills for the reconciliation of benefits related invoices and leave of absence tasks. 


• Ability to evaluate situations and provide well formulated responses based on law, MOUs, policy and past practice. 

FROM THE STAFF:

"I like working for the City first because of the great benefit package. The large amounts that the City contributes towards my health insurance, pension, and other benefits add a so much value to my total compensation. I also like the culture, and inclusiveness at the City. I’ve found that working alongside, and supporting all the people who make this City run smoothly, comes with a sense of pride too. I know my job helps contribute to the greater good of my community.

Payroll is an important and rewarding department to work in. We get to interact with all departments in the City, which makes for an interesting workday. In Payroll we work closely with each other, with lots of cooperation and support. I’ve had the opportunity to learn so much, and improve my skills since coming to this department."

-Payroll Specialist

HOW TO APPLY:

Please complete a thoughtful, thorough Supplemental Questionnaire submission. As part of the selection process, your responses to these questions will be scored using criteria specific to this position. Provide specific and detailed responses of a reasonable length to allow for a thorough assessment of your qualifications. Incomplete responses, or responses such as "See Resume" may result in disqualification from the selection process. 

THE SELECTION PROCESS:

The selection process will include a minimum qualifications assessment, and may also include an application and supplemental questionnaire review, followed by department selection interviews. 

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

Additional requirements, such as successful completion of a physical exam, drug screen, etc., may apply, depending on the duties and responsibilities of the position. If you receive a conditional job offer for the position, the requirements upon which the offer is contingent will be outlined in the conditional job letter. 

Examples of Duties and Responsibilities

• Prepares and processes the full cycle bi-weekly payroll


• Sets up and maintains employee master file records in the payroll system


• Reviews personnel action forms (PAFs) and other employee deduction and contribution forms for completeness and accuracy and makes necessary entries into the payroll system


• Reviews time and attendance records for accuracy and compliance with various MOUs and City policies


• Reviews system-generated FLSA overtime payments, various payroll deductions and fringe benefit calculations and makes necessary adjustments 


• Performs complex retroactive pay calculations and applies adjustments


• Runs trial payroll and reviews for accuracy; makes corrections as needed   


• Analyzes various payroll reports for error and out-of-balance messages and reconciles any discrepancies


• Generates pay checks and direct deposits


• Calculates separation payouts, including lump sum leave payouts and contributions to deferred compensation plans


• Prepares spreadsheets to record and track disbursements


• Creates accounts payable claims for payment of payroll liabilities and reconciles payroll clearing accounts


• Tracks accrued payroll tax liability, monitors deadlines and prepares tax deposits


• Assists employees with various questions and requests for information


• Receives and researches requirements for wage assignment orders and tax levies and implements related deductions


• Interprets and applies MOU provisions and City policies and procedures


• Receives and completes various forms, surveys and verifications of employment


• Assists in the preparation and reconciliation of annual W-2 forms


• Establishes and maintains effective communication and working relationships with managers, supervisors, employees, retirees and all external customers


• Maintains a variety of payroll records and assists with gathering information requested by auditors or in response to Public Records Act requests

Additional Duties:

• Receives and reconciles monthly insurance invoices and prepares accounts payable claims for payment


• Issues a variety of uniform benefits in accordance with MOUs and City policy and procedures


• Tracks employee leaves related to FMLA, CFRA, PDL and Military


• Notices employees on unpaid leave of amounts due for insurance benefits


• Prepares journal vouchers


• Perform related duties as assigned

Required Qualifications

Qualifications:

Knowledge of: The principles, procedures and practices related to financial recordkeeping and reporting; basic bookkeeping methods and practices; business math, including fractions, decimals, percentages, and ratios; principles, best practices and methods for the preparation and maintenance of a complex automated payroll system, including preparation and processing of a biweekly payroll and related disbursements; accounting, reporting, recordkeeping, reconciliation and regulatory compliance; federal and State laws related to payroll and tax accounting; Fair Labor Standards Act and CalPERS regulations and requirements; techniques for providing effective customer service in dealing with City staff and others contacted in the course of the work; and proper business English usage, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Ability to: Rapidly learn and conduct full-cycle payroll processing, calculate retroactive pay adjustments and other calculations required for complex payroll processing; understand, interpret, and apply the provisions of MOUs, legal documents and tax requirements; advise others on how to apply policies, procedures and standards to specific situations related to payroll policies; exercise judgment to analyze and categorize data and information in order to determine the relationship of the data with reference to established criteria/standards; compare, count, differentiate, measure and/or sort, as well as assemble, copy, record and transcribe data and information; classify, compute and tabulate data; research and solve complex payroll issues; accurately perform basic to complex arithmetic computations manually; calculate percentages, fractions, decimals and rations; interpret basic descriptive statistical reports and/or formulation data; work independently with minimal supervision; organize and prioritize work activities independently; communicate effectively, orally and in writing with employees and representatives of other entities such as CalPERS and State and federal tax agencies; establish effective working relationships with others; and use a computer and related software to input, query and maintain data.

Experience and Education: Any combination equivalent to experience and education that could likely provide the required knowledge and abilities would be qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge and abilities would be: 

Experience - Sufficient experience including bookkeeping, payroll or financial record keeping or other clerical accounting experience which demonstrates the possession of the knowledge and abilities listed above. Typically, this would include the equivalent of three (3) years of full time experience working in a full cycle payroll environment at an organization of similar size and complexity to the City of Santa Rosa. 

Education -Equivalent to completion of the twelfth grade, supplemented with courses in accounting, business, or a related field. One year of college level course work in accounting or financial record keeping and American Payroll Certification is highly desirable.

License:

This classification may require the use of a personal or City vehicle while conducting City business. In order to operate a vehicle, individuals must be physically capable of operating a motor vehicle safely and possess a valid California motor vehicle operator's license, OR be able to demonstrate the ability to travel on scheduled and unscheduled visits to various City locations which may or may not be reachable by public transportation.

Additional Information

Additional requirements, such as successful completion of a physical exam, drug screen, etc., may apply, depending on the duties and responsibilities of the position. If you receive a conditional job offer for the position, the requirements upon which the offer is contingent will be outlined in the conditional job letter.  

Working conditions and physical job requirements are available on the online job description.

The City of Santa Rosa is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

The City does not discriminate on the basis of disability in employment. Requests for reasonable accommodations needed to participate in the recruitment process may be made by submitting a Request for Reasonable Accommodation Form within five (5) business days of being noticed that an event requiring accommodation is occurring. You may also contact the Human Resources Department at (707) 543-3060 or jobs@srcity.org.