Payroll Technician

Payroll Specialist

Under general supervision from assigned manager, performs technical and clerical accounting activities involving the preparation, processing, and maintenance of District payroll and benefit contributions; and maintains records and prepares related financial reports.

The following duties are typical for this job classification. Incumbents may not perform all of the listed duties and/or may be required to perform additional or different duties from those set forth below to address business needs and changing business practices.

• Reviews time sheets and calculates base pay, overtime, shift differential, longevity, and compensatory time off; makes adjustments for overpayment, loss of pay, and to leave accruals.
• Prepares regular and variable payrolls for all employee classes of District; prepares California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) and California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) detail reports; ensures that payroll timelines are met; verifies and assigns appropriate account coding; inputs payroll into District's Banner Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in compliance with Federal Circular A-133, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), California Employment Development Department (EDD), California Education and Government Codes, and other regulations.
• Develops and maintains spreadsheets of District payroll data and voluntary deductions; creates and remits all third-party vendor files at the conclusion of each payroll cycle; creates and distributes time sheets to all District employees; develops ad hoc employee specific spreadsheets to resolve complex issues.
• Responsible for compliance with fiscal independence requirements for the District with regard to payroll procedures and processes; prepares all wire and check requests; calculates cash requirements for each payroll cycle and prepares funding requests for appropriate manager; initiates stop payments, stale dated check transactions, and prepares supporting documentation.
• Sets up all new employees based on new hire paperwork, including earnings, deductions, direct deposit, and other required data to pay employees; maintains confidential employee payroll records; ensures that payroll records include necessary job and biographical information for accurate group benefit and retirement plan coverage and deductions; posts changes to District records.
• Researches complex employee payroll questions and concerns; interacts with District employees regarding payroll matters; provides explanations of complex payroll concepts with regard to earnings, garnishments, taxes, and retirement system rules.
• Maintains District retiree payroll, including medical/health benefit information; applies retiree premium according to selected plan; corresponds with representatives of insurance carriers to assist employees and retirees regarding benefits issues; processes retiree medical reimbursements as required under the collective bargaining agreements.
• Coordinates and participates in activities connected with the development and maintenance of automated payroll systems; confers with Information Technology Services and accountants regarding issues; acts as a subject matter expert for implementing new features/modules within ERP system; tests system changes prior to implementation.
• Prepares and submits appropriate claim forms, tax deposits, and withholding forms pertaining to third party sick pay; reconciles District federal and state tax withholding information and makes tax deposits through the Placer County Treasurer.
• Calculates complex wage garnishments, monitors, and maintains confidential files for employee wage garnishments from federal, state, and local authorities; sets up, monitors, and remits payments.
• Maintains current and prior period payroll data files with an emphasis on data accessibility and disposes of allowable documents in accordance with applicable regulations.
• Researches and compiles employee information and wage earnings as requested by the IRS and/or the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB); reviews tax sheltered annuity forms submitted by employees for compliance with applicable IRS rules and regulations; monitors contribution limits for employees as prescribed by the IRS rules and coordinates with plan administrators to resolve problems.
• Establishes new earnings and deductions codes and applies appropriate employee class, taxation, CalPERS and CalSTRS applicability, labor distribution, and leave accrual eligibility; ensures effective dating of various elements of pay.
• Assists with the preparation of quarterly and annual payroll tax returns for federal and state agencies; assists with the preparation and submission of IRS Form W-2 and W-3.
• Prepares annual projections of full-time staff earnings by type for use in budget preparation and collective bargaining negotiations; researches discrepancies in program expenses; performs redistributions to move funds to align with the budget; provides salary and benefit information for a variety of inquiries; interacts with auditors by providing data and/or reports for audits of District payroll/benefits.
• Performs related duties that support the overall objective of the position.

Any combination of education and experience that demonstrates the required above knowledge and abilities is qualifying. Examples of ways to obtain the above knowledge and abilities could include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Education/Training: Equivalent to the completion of the twelfth grade or General Educational Development (GED) supplemented by a Payroll Certificate and/or college level course work in accounting, finance, or a related field.
• Experience: Two years of increasingly responsible experience with payroll processing experience, tax preparation, and filings.

The following generally describes the knowledge and ability required to enter the job and/or be learned within a short period of time in order to successfully perform the assigned duties:

• Knowledge of: Methods and techniques of payroll processing, record keeping, and reporting. Automated accounting and payroll systems and relational databases. Methods and techniques of financial record keeping and reporting. Laws, regulations, bargaining agreements, policies, and procedures that govern payroll, payroll processing, and retirement, including CalPERS, CalSTRS, California Franchise Tax Board, Internal Revenue Service, Workers' Compensation program, and Title IV for student employment. Business math skills to perform algebraic and statistical computations. English usage, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary.
• Ability to: Accurately process District payroll. Maintain accurate payroll records and prepare accurate tax returns. Research and resolve complex technical issues. Extract data from databases and prepare clear and concise payroll reports. Make arithmetic calculations of average to above average difficulty. Plan and organize work to meet changing priorities and deadlines. Utilize office procedures, methods, and equipment, including computers, technology, and applicable software applications sufficiently to perform the duties of the classification, including the District's Banner Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Maintain confidentiality of information. Follow oral and written instructions. Communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing. Provide onboarding support, general work training, guidance, supervision assistance, and directs activities of student or temporary employees. Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work. Work independently or collaboratively. Apply District policies and procedures.
• Physical Demands and Working Environment: The conditions herein are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions.

Environment: Work is performed primarily in a standard office setting.

Physical: Primary functions require sufficient physical ability and mobility to work in an office setting; to stand or sit for prolonged periods of time; to occasionally walk, stoop, bend, kneel, crouch, reach, and twist; to lift, carry, push, and/or pull light to moderate amounts of weight; to operate office equipment requiring repetitive hand movement and fine coordination, including use of a computer keyboard; and to verbally communicate to exchange information.

Vision: See in the normal visual range with or without correction; vision sufficient to read computer screens and printed documents; and to operate assigned equipment.

Hearing: Hear in the normal audio range with or without correction.

One of Aspen Institute's Top 150 Community Colleges in the nation. The Accrediting Commission recognized Sierra "for its exemplary practice of providing personnel with opportunities for continued professional development in order to meet its mission." This includes providing students and employees with a robust set of programs, events, and conferences related to equity-mindedness and supporting the success of our students, etc.

Public Employee's Retirement System (PERS)

18 paid holidays (including extended time off during the winter break)

12 accrued paid vacation days per year (vacation accrual increases over time)

Competitive benefits package

Flexible work schedules may be available

Currently during summers, some employee groups participate in 4x10 schedules

Qualifying Employer for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (in most cases)

Sierra College is a Community College located near Sacramento, California where a heavy emphasis is placed on academic excellence and student success. Since its founding in 1936, Sierra College has focused on quality instruction and meeting the evolving needs of the students and communities that it serves.

Sierra College has a strong commitment to the achievement of equity and inclusion among its faculty, staff, and students and values the rich, diverse backgrounds that make up the campus community. A strong candidate for this position must demonstrate a profound understanding of and experience with successfully supporting individuals with varying backgrounds. This includes persons with disabilities, various gender identities and sexual orientations, as well as individuals from historically underrepresented communities and other