Temporary Payroll Specialist (20 hours/week)

Worcester Polytechnic Institute•Worcester, MA

5d•$30 - $35•Remote

About The Position

Reporting to the Associate Director, the Temporary Payroll Specialist works approximately 20 hours per week to support daily payroll operations, including customer service and end-to-end processing of multiple biweekly payrolls in Workday HCM. The position helps ensure accurate and timely payment to employees and processes regular payroll as well as special payments, including net pay reissues and other out-of-sequence payrolls. It reviews and analyzes employee transactions and time reports for compliance with federal and state regulations, university policy, the employee handbook, and collective bargaining agreements. This is a temporary position of approximately six months, with possible extension, at an hourly rate of $30–$35. The role is remote and includes coverage on biweekly payroll deadline days.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.
At least 2 years of payroll experience, including Workday HCM payroll.
Knowledge of federal and state payroll laws and regulations.
Proficiency in Excel.
Excellent customer service and communication skills, with an aptitude for problem-solving.
Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and meet payroll deadlines.
Availability to work approximately 20 hours per week remotely, including coverage on biweekly payroll deadline days.

Nice To Haves

Experience with ADP payroll tax processing and reconciliation.
Experience in a unionized environment and applying collective bargaining agreement pay rules.
Payroll experience in higher education.

Responsibilities

Assist with biweekly payroll processing for multiple pay groups, including auditing, analyzing, verifying, and entering payroll items.
Ensure accuracy of gross-to-net calculations, benefit deductions, retirement contributions, tax withholding, union dues, and garnishments.
Review reported time; follow up with managers and employees; evaluate prior-period adjustments and unprocessed time; and clean up unsubmitted time entries.
Run payroll audit reports, follow up as needed, and make adjustments and fixes to support accurate and timely payment.
Communicate about missing direct deposit information, printed-check or pay-card distribution, net pay reissues, direct deposit rejects, and stale-dated checks.
Respond by email, phone, and videoconference to payroll questions from employees, departments, managers, and agencies.
Manage the payroll queue in the Halo ticketing system.
Send reminders about time-entry and approval deadlines, year-end processing, and related matters.
Create and update procedure and job-aid documentation for department and community use.
Maintain accurate website and Workday information, including future payroll processing setup and vacation and holiday calendars.
Support compliance with federal, state, and local payroll laws and regulations, including wage and hour, tax, and reporting requirements.
Develop understanding of collective bargaining agreements, including time-entry codes, pay rules, earning calculations, and reporting.
Support calendar year-end processes, including W-2 preparation, reconciliation, and distribution.
Run reports to assist with periodic, quarterly, and annual tax filings.
Respond to audit requests and compliance reporting.
Assist with entries to finalize fiscal year-end.
Track garnishments and advance repayments, and create accounts payable requisitions.
Assist with payroll tax account registration and maintenance; reconcile ADP tax transactions; file and pay obligations outside ADP processing; and reconcile payroll tax records with ADP, tax agencies, and accounting records.
Partner with internal and external teams on Workday testing related to system projects, optimization, enhancements, fixes, and new releases.
Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned or directed by the supervisor.