Human Resource Specialist

Job Description

Job Description

Human Resources Specialist Position Summary

The Human Resources Specialist is responsible for the operational administration of Human Resources programs and processes, ensuring accurate employee records, regulatory compliance, and efficient HR operations throughout the employee lifecycle. This role serves as the primary administrator for offboarding, benefits, leave administration, HR systems, personnel records, compensation verification, incentive administration, workers' compensation and unemployment claim administration, reporting, and HR audits.

The Human Resources Specialist coordinates and tracks HR processes, maintains documentation, ensures compliance with company policies and applicable employment laws, and serves as a key liaison between Human Resources, Payroll, Information Technology, Finance, managers, and external vendors.

This position is administrative and operational in nature and does not have responsibility for workplace investigations, employee relations, disciplinary decisions, corrective action plans, or formal performance improvement plans.

Essential Duties and ResponsibilitiesOffboarding and Knowledge Transfer

Lead and coordinate the organization's comprehensive employee offboarding process by:

• Managing resignation and termination workflows and checklists.

• Confirming final employment dates.

• Meeting with managers to develop structured transition plans.

• Establishing timelines, responsibilities, and completion deadlines for all offboarding activities.

• Coordinating operational knowledge transfer between departing employees and managers.

• Ensuring transfer of projects, recurring duties, vendor relationships, reports, calendars, shared inboxes, and system responsibilities.

• Confirming managers identify essential responsibilities, deadlines, contacts, and pending work requiring reassignment.

• Ensuring departing employees prepare or update standard operating procedures, workflow documentation, trackers, and knowledge-base materials.

• Confirming company files are organized within approved storage locations.

• Coordinating with Information Technology regarding account access, ownership changes, data preservation, and access removal.

• Coordinating equipment return and preservation of company records.

• Notifying Payroll, Finance, Licensing, Credentialing, Information Technology, and other applicable departments.

• Coordinating benefit separation notifications and final payroll communication.

• Conducting or coordinating exit interviews and identifying employee-relations trends for leadership review.

• Auditing personnel records following separation.

• Verifying completion of all offboarding requirements.

Personnel Records and HR Compliance

Maintain accurate, complete, and compliant employee records by:

• Establishing personnel file documentation standards.

• Maintaining official employee personnel files.

• Conducting routine personnel file audits.

• Monitoring missing, expired, or incomplete documentation.

• Maintaining document retention schedules and confidentiality requirements.

• Controlling access to confidential employee records.

• Tracking employee classifications, employment status, and exempt/nonexempt designations.

• Maintaining HR compliance trackers.

• Tracking required training and policy acknowledgments.

• Preparing records for internal and external audits.

• Identifying documentation deficiencies and coordinating corrective actions.

• Maintaining required federal and state employment notices.

• Coordinating workplace postings and electronic notices.

• Preserving records associated with audits, investigations, legal holds, and administrative claims.

Employment Eligibility Administration

Maintain employment eligibility documentation by:

• Maintaining federal employment eligibility records.

• Monitoring work authorization documentation and required reverifications.

• Coordinating electronic employment verification requirements where applicable.

• Conducting periodic eligibility documentation audits.

• Escalating missing or questionable documentation.

Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS)

Administer and maintain HR systems by:

• Maintaining accurate employee data.

• Processing approved employee status and organizational changes.

• Maintaining department, manager, location, position, and employment status information.

• Managing appropriate system permissions.

• Auditing HR system records against personnel files and payroll.

• Tracking and resolving data discrepancies.

• Coordinating approved system updates with Payroll and Information Technology.

Performance Review Administration

Coordinate the organization's performance review process by:

• Maintaining the annual performance review schedule.

• Ensuring position descriptions and measurable performance expectations remain current.

• Tracking overdue evaluations.

• Maintaining completed evaluation records.

• Reporting evaluation completion by department and manager.

• Maintaining documentation supporting promotions, merit increases, and position changes.

• Reporting overdue evaluations to leadership.

• Referring employee performance concerns requiring corrective action to HR leadership.

Benefits, Leave, and Accommodations

Administer employee benefit programs by:

• Managing benefit enrollments and qualifying life event changes.

• Coordinating benefits during onboarding.

• Administering employee leave requests.

• Coordinating accommodation requests.

• Tracking required forms and supporting documentation.

• Communicating with insurance carriers and benefit vendors.

• Resolving routine enrollment discrepancies.

• Maintaining benefits, leave, and accommodation records.

• Coordinating approved payroll deductions.

• Ensuring required employee notices are distributed.

• Coordinating annual open enrollment.

• Verifying employee census information.

• Escalating legally complex matters appropriately.

Workers' Compensation and Unemployment Claims Administration

Administer workers' compensation and unemployment claims by:

• Receiving and documenting workplace injury reports.

• Coordinating timely claim reporting with insurance carriers.

• Maintaining claim documentation and statutory deadlines.

• Coordinating work restrictions and return-to-work documentation.

• Working with managers regarding temporary work accommodations.

• Maintaining leave records associated with claims.

• Monitoring claims through closure.

• Receiving and tracking unemployment claims.

• Coordinating claim documentation and submission deadlines.

• Maintaining claim records and outcomes.

• Escalating disputed or legally sensitive matters to HR leadership.

Incentive, Bonus, and Compensation Administration

Support employee compensation programs by:

• Maintaining approved incentive and bonus program documentation.

• Tracking eligibility requirements and payment schedules.

• Confirming employee eligibility based on HR requirements.

• Collecting supporting documentation from department managers.

• Verifying calculations against approved compensation programs.

• Identifying qualifying and non-qualifying employees.

• Maintaining incentive approval records.

• Coordinating required approvals.

• Submitting approved incentive payments to Payroll.

• Confirming payments are processed accurately.

• Investigating payment discrepancies.

• Maintaining compensation audit trails.

• Verifying salary, hourly rate, employment status, and approved compensation changes.

• Comparing HR records with payroll data.

• Coordinating payroll corrections with Payroll and Finance.

Human Resources Reporting and Audits

Prepare and maintain HR operational reports including:

• Offboarding completion metrics.

• Knowledge transfer completion.

• Personnel file audit results.

• Performance review completion.

• Benefits, leave, and accommodation reporting.

• Employment documentation compliance.

• Workers' compensation and unemployment claim status.

• Incentive and bonus administration.

• Employee turnover and retention metrics.

• Open HR tasks and project tracking.

• HRIS and payroll reconciliation reports.

• Administrative compliance reporting.

QualificationsEducation

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field preferred.

• Equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.

Experience

• Three to five years of progressively responsible Human Resources experience.

• Experience administering HR operations, benefits, personnel records, HRIS, and compliance.

• Experience coordinating employee lifecycle processes.

• Experience supporting payroll administration and compensation verification preferred.

• Experience with workers' compensation, unemployment claims, and HR reporting preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong knowledge of HR administration and employment recordkeeping.

• Working knowledge of federal and state employment regulations.

• Excellent organizational and project coordination skills.

• Strong analytical and auditing abilities.

• Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to maintain strict confidentiality.

• Proficiency with Human Resources Information Systems and Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel.

• Ability to collaborate effectively with managers, Payroll, Information Technology, Finance, and external vendors.

Core Competencies

• Organization and Planning

• Attention to Detail

• Accountability

• Confidentiality

• Compliance Management

• Process Improvement

• Collaboration

• Customer Service

• Analytical Thinking

• Time Management

• Problem Solving

• Documentation and Record Management