Payroll Specialist

The Payroll Specialist is responsible for accurately processing and administering payroll for employees in a timely, confidential, and compliant manner. This role manages payroll data, timekeeping records, employee deductions, wage garnishments, payroll taxes, benefit deductions, and payroll-related reporting while providing responsive support to employees and management.

The Payroll Specialist will support employees working in the District of Columbia and Colorado and must have a strong understanding of federal payroll requirements, as well as applicable state and local payroll laws and regulations. This position works closely with Human Resources, Finance, department leaders, employees, and third-party payroll vendors to ensure employees are paid accurately and payroll records are maintained appropriately.

The ideal candidate will have strong attention to detail, sound judgment, excellent organizational skills, and the ability to manage confidential information while consistently meeting payroll deadlines.

Benefits: ONLY FOR FULL TIME EMPLOYEES

- Competitive salary commensurate with experience

- Opportunities for professional development and career advancement

- Positive and supportive work environment

- Contribution to improving healthcare access and quality in the community

- Comprehensive benefits package including:

- Health insurance

- Vision

- Dental

- Paid Time Off

- Sick Leave

- Retirement plans

Responsibilities:

- Process weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, and/or monthly payroll accurately and on schedule.

- Review and validate employee timecards, PTO records, overtime, missed punches, shift differentials, bonuses, commissions, reimbursements, and other payroll changes before each payroll run.

- Enter and maintain payroll data for new hires, terminations, promotions, wage adjustments, direct-deposit changes, tax withholding elections, benefit deductions, and other employee changes.

- Audit payroll registers before final submission to identify discrepancies, duplicate payments, missing hours, incorrect pay rates, or improper deductions.

- Research and resolve payroll discrepancies, employee pay questions, timekeeping issues, payroll reversals, and off-cycle payment requests.

- Maintain accurate payroll records, supporting documentation, audit trails, and employee payroll files in accordance with company record-retention requirements.

- Administer employee deductions, including health insurance, retirement contributions, flexible spending accounts, voluntary benefits, parking or transit benefits, wage garnishments, child-support orders, tax levies, and other authorized deductions.

- Coordinate payroll-related information with Human Resources regarding onboarding, leaves of absence, paid time off, workers' compensation, employment status changes, and employee separations.

- Prepare and reconcile payroll journal entries, labor reports, benefit reports, payroll registers, and other payroll-related reports for Finance and management.

- Assist with quarterly and year-end payroll activities, including W-2 preparation, employee tax-document corrections, reconciliations, and required payroll reporting.

- Support payroll audits, internal reviews, external audits, benefit-plan audits, and tax-related inquiries.

- Maintain confidentiality of employee compensation, banking information, tax information, benefits information, and other personally identifiable information.

- Monitor payroll-related deadlines and ensure required filings, payments, and documentation are completed accurately and on time.

- Recommend process improvements that strengthen payroll accuracy, internal controls, workflow efficiency, and employee service.

- Stay current on changes to federal, District of Columbia, and Colorado payroll, wage-and-hour, tax, and employment requirements.

- Work with third-party payroll providers and government agencies to resolve payroll tax, wage reporting, and employee payroll matters as needed.

Compliance Responsibilities

The Payroll Specialist will support compliance with applicable federal, District of Columbia, and Colorado payroll requirements.

Responsibilities may include:

- Supporting accurate federal, DC, and Colorado payroll tax withholding, reporting, and payments.

- Supporting DC payroll withholding-tax filings and related employer reporting requirements.

- Supporting Colorado state payroll withholding and unemployment-insurance reporting and payments.

- Monitoring applicable DC and Colorado wage-and-hour requirements, including minimum wage, overtime, final pay, and payroll-related requirements.

- Supporting applicable DC Paid Family Leave requirements and employer payroll-tax reporting.

- Supporting Colorado paid-leave and related payroll requirements, including applicable paid family and medical leave requirements.

- Maintaining appropriate payroll records and documentation for employees working in different jurisdictions.

- Coordinating with Human Resources and Finance to ensure employee work locations, tax jurisdictions, deductions, and payroll information are properly maintained.

- Assisting with responses to payroll-tax notices, unemployment claims, agency inquiries, audits, and other government correspondence.

- Staying informed of changes to applicable federal, DC, and Colorado payroll laws and regulations and communicating relevant changes to management.

Qualifications

- High school diploma or GED required; associate's or bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field preferred.

- Two or more years of payroll-processing experience preferred.

- Experience processing multi-state payroll, including District of Columbia and/or Colorado payroll, strongly preferred.

- Experience with payroll systems such as ADP, Paylocity, Paycom, UKG, Paychex, Gusto, Workday, iSolved, or a comparable platform.

- Experience with timekeeping systems and electronic timecard review.

- Working knowledge of federal payroll taxes, state and local tax withholding, wage-and-hour requirements, W-2 processing, payroll deductions, and wage garnishments.

- Familiarity with District of Columbia and Colorado payroll-tax, unemployment-insurance, paid-leave, and wage-reporting requirements preferred.

- Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, including formulas, filtering, sorting, reconciliations, and report review.

- Strong mathematical, analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.

- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

- Demonstrated ability to manage confidential information with discretion and professionalism.

- Ability to meet recurring deadlines and maintain a high degree of accuracy in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Qualifications

- Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) designation or progress toward certification.

- Experience supporting payroll for hourly, salaried, exempt, non-exempt, remote, field-based, or multi-location employees.

- Experience with healthcare, home health, staffing, nonprofit, or professional-services payroll.

- Experience reconciling payroll to the general ledger and preparing payroll-related journal entries.

- Knowledge of PTO accruals, leave administration, employee reimbursements, and benefit-deduction reconciliation.

- Experience supporting employees across multiple states or jurisdictions.

- Experience working with third-party payroll vendors and payroll-tax agencies.

Core Competencies

- Accuracy and attention to detail

- Confidentiality and integrity

- Time management and deadline ownership

- Customer service and employee support

- Payroll and compliance knowledge

- Data analysis and reconciliation

- Clear written and verbal communication

- Process improvement

- Independent judgment and accountability

- Organization and follow-through

Physical and Work Requirements

- Ability to work primarily in an office, hybrid, or remote environment, as determined by business needs.

- Ability to use a computer and standard office equipment for extended periods.

- Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet strict payroll-processing deadlines.

- Ability to communicate effectively with employees, managers, Human Resources, Finance, and external payroll vendors.

- Occasional overtime may be required during payroll processing periods, quarter-end, year-end, audits, system implementations, or other business-critical periods.

Job Types: Fulltime
Pay: $23.00 - 25.00 per hour
Schedule: Monday-Friday 9am-6pm
Work setting: In-person (Onsite NO REMOTE OR HYBRID)
Ability to commute: Reliably commute (Required)

Note - This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. The employee may be required to perform other related duties as assigned by their supervisor. Job duties may also be adjusted based on organizational and industry needs.