"Payroll and Benefits Specialist"

About Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts:

At MCLA, we're here for all, and focused on each, of our students. Classes are taught by educators who care deeply about teaching, and about seeing their students thrive on every level of their lives. In every way possible, the experience at MCLA is designed to elevate our students as individuals, leaders, and communicators, fully empowered to make their impressions on the world. In addition to our 130-year commitment to public education, we have fortified our dedication to equitable academic excellence. MCLA has appeared on U.S. News & World Report's list of Top Ten Public Colleges for 10 consecutive years, earning the No. 6 spot on the list of Top Public Liberal Arts Schools in the nation for 2025, after earning the No. 7 spot the prior three years. The College's focus on affordable education and economic prosperity is reflected in additional 2025 U.S. News rankings: No. 5 for Top Performer on Social Mobility for liberal arts colleges in the state and No. 2 for Top Performer on Social Mobility for public liberal arts colleges in the country. These rankings measure how well schools graduate students who receive Federal Pell Grants. Learn more at www.mcla.edu

Job Description:

GENERAL STATEMENT OF DUTIES:

The Payroll & Benefits Specialist is responsible for student payroll, as well as for the payroll of employees not on self-service time reporting. Serves as back-up to the Director of Payroll and Benefits for all other employee payroll processing and benefits administration. Payroll processing includes staff, faculty (including adjunct faculty), and student employees. Benefits administration includes new employee enrollment & orientation, open enrollment meetings and changes, retirement documentation, etc. Provide support to all areas of Human Resources (special projects, administrative work, etc.) as needed, including administrative support of the recruitment function and special projects. Administrates the College's unemployment claims.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED: Reports to the Director of Payroll and Benefits

SUPERVISION EXERCISED: N/A

DETAILED STATEMENT OF DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Manages the student employment process and provides instruction to the Human Resources Coordinator on student employment administrative work.
   1. Work with student employee supervisors to create student job requisitions and postings.
   2. Work closely with Financial Aid on student work study awards, including the tracking of award amounts, the status of awards, and student application status.
   3. Work with students to place them in a position of interest to them.
   4. Communicate with student supervisors on the hiring of student employees.
   5. Create student job offers and process the forms after all parties have signed.
   6. Contact and assist students with completing new hire paperwork.
   7. Set-up students in the payroll system.
   8. Verify timesheets for accuracy in TimesheetX and finalize report for entry into the HRCMS system.
   9. Produce student predictive payroll reports and adjust time entries as needed to ensure the accurate and timely payment of student employees.
   10. Point of contact for students regarding any questions pertaining to student employment positions and payroll.
   11. Produce bi-weekly student payroll reports for various departments.
2. Support and primary backup for the Director of Payroll and Benefits.
3. Primary responsibility for entry of time and attendance data for employees not on self-service into the online payroll system, HR/CMS, or any successor system implemented by the Commonwealth for statewide payroll operations.
4. Calculates comp time and overtime credits, shift differentials, meal reimbursements, and stand-by pay.
5. Works with departments to ensure timely reporting of attendance and verify attendance records for accuracy.
6. Calculate and/or verify bi-weekly payments for adjunct faculty and set-up in the payroll system.
7. Run after payroll processing reports to review for payroll processing errors and to make corrections as needed.
8. Responsible for generation of bi-weekly payroll reconciliations for the Executive Director of Human Resources' review and authorization.
9. Assist the Director of Payroll & Benefits with the calculations for collective bargaining pay increases for three bargaining units on campus; i.e., The Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA/NEA); The Association of Professional Administrators (APA/MTA/NEA); and The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME/AFL-CIO); as well as for all excluded personnel.
10. Assist with payroll calculations.
11. Enter and update payroll deductions, such as health care savings, dependent care, and voluntary retirement savings payroll deductions as directed by employees.
12. Prepares payroll information in response to state audit requests.
13. Produce AdHoc reports via the Commonwealth's payroll database: Commonwealth Information System (CIW).
14. Calculate statistics & respond to surveys for various government departments, including the Bureau of Labor and Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics information request and the US Census' Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll survey.
15. Assist in the gathering of data for union and public employee data requests.
16. Represents the College at seminars, meetings and state training sessions on HR/CMS system upgrades to keep abreast of all changes affecting payroll policies and procedures.
17. Serve as a back-up to the Human Resources Coordinator for the completion of onboarding human resource/payroll forms, i.e. I-9, personal data form, federal/state tax forms, etc.
18. Enter new employees into Banner and HR/CMS, as well as update existing payroll records.
19. Provides employment verifications for current and former employees.
20. Serves as a point of contact for employees regarding self-service time & attendance issues, as well as payroll, benefit, and union questions.
21. Support for the coordination of the employee annual open enrollment of benefits.
22. Serves as a backup to the Human Resources Generalist for the creation of full-time and part-time job requisitions & postings.
23. Administrates the College's reporting of unemployment claims.
24. Performs miscellaneous administrative functions, as required & as a back-up to the Human Resources Coordinator.
25. Completes special projects assigned by the Director of Payroll and Benefits.

Requirements:

1. Associates degree in Business or related discipline with 3 years of office experience in a confidential setting -OR- Bachelor's degree in Business or related discipline with 2 years office experience in a confidential setting.
2. Minimum of 3 years of HR or payroll experience;
3. Experience with manual time entry a plus;
4. Experience maintaining attendance and financial records;
5. Strong interpersonal, oral and written communication skills and demonstrated customer service skills to interact effectively with faculty, staff, students, and the public;
6. Proficiency with M/S Office Suite (including MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access);
7. Experience with payroll software systems, HR/CMS a plus.
8. Experience with HR databases, HRIS, payroll and/or applicant tracking systems, or demonstrated experience mastering new software/technology systems.
9. Working knowledge of federal and state employment laws and applications;
10. Understanding of financial operations, payroll systems, and any applicable HR/Wage and Hour statutes;
11. Demonstrated ability to maintain confidentiality;
12. Superior attention to detail;
13. Advanced analytical and problem-solving skills;
14. Ability to work independently, multitask with frequent interruptions and demonstrate flexibility;
15. Strong organizational skills;
16. Self-motivated;

Additional Information:

This is a full-time, benefited position. The annual salary for this position is $55,000 - $65,000 per year. Monday thru Friday 37.5 hours/week

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants and employees with disabilities. Should you need to request a reasonable accommodation for the application process, please email Brenda Stokes, Executive Director of Human Resources.

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts is deeply committed to fostering a community of excellence, equity, diversity, and inclusion. We provide equal access to educational, co-curricular and employment opportunities for all applicants, students, and employees regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, marital or parental status, veteran status, or membership in any other legally protected class. Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts does not discriminate on the basis of sex in any educational program or activity that they operate, which extends to admission and employment.

Inquiries about Title IX, Equal Opportunity, or ADA/504 and other non-discrimination policies may be directed to MCLA's Interim Title IX and Equal Opportunity Coordinator, to the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, or both.

Lucas Morrill
Interim Title IX and EO Coordinator
375 Church Street, North Adams, MA 01247
Telephone: (413) 662-5103
Titleix@mcla.edu

U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights
33 Arch Street, 9th Floor Boston, MA 02119-1424
Telephone: (617) 289-0111; FAX: (617) 289-0150; TDD (877) 521-2172
OCR.Boston@ed.gov

Application Instructions:

Applicants should electronically submit an application by clicking on the APPLY NOW button below.