Payroll and Leaves Coordinator - JOB ID# 14302

Payroll And Leaves Coordinator III

Since 1966, the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) has been dedicated to providing innovative, high-quality, and cost-effective educational programs and services to meet the diverse needs of children and adults in Greater Hartford. Serving 33 member districts and reaching additional communities statewide, CREC supports approximately 12,000 students annually through more than 120 educational programs. Our offerings include professional learning and coaching for educators, specialized programming for students with diverse needs, and PreK-12 education across 16 interdistrict magnet schools. Additionally, CREC provides school construction, operations, and cooperative business services, while also delivering programs that help adults build real, job-ready skills.

The Payroll And Leaves Coordinator III is responsible for coordinating and maintaining accurate employee timekeeping records and supporting payroll processing activities at the site level. This position serves as the primary contact for attendance, time reporting, and payroll-related data collection, ensuring employee work hours, absences, leave usage, and supplemental pay information are accurately recorded and submitted in accordance with CREC policies, collective bargaining agreements, and applicable regulations.

Essential duties and responsibilities include overseeing department workflows, ensuring efficiency and alignment with organizational goals; developing, implementing, and refining standard operating procedures for consistency and compliance; supporting and specializing in a specific set of tasks, responsibilities, or projects; supervising, training, and mentoring staff; conducting performance evaluations, providing feedback, and collaboratively developing goals with staff; coordinating and processing biweekly payroll for all assigned employees, ensuring timely, accurate, and compliant payroll administration in accordance with organizational policies, collective bargaining agreements, and applicable federal and state regulations; maintaining and auditing employee payroll records, entering, reviewing, and updating payroll and personnel data to ensure the integrity, accuracy, and completeness of payroll information; managing employee leave administration, including tracking leaves of absence, workers' compensation-related absences, and associated medical appointments; ensuring accurate timekeeping, coding, documentation, and reporting; partnering closely with the Staffing Coordinator and school leadership to monitor attendance trends, communicate staffing needs, and support daily operational coverage requirements; reconciling employee leave balances and payroll data by accurately managing information between Munis, TimeClock Plus, and other applicable systems, identifying discrepancies and implementing timely corrections; developing, documenting, and maintaining standardized operating procedures for payroll processing, leave administration, workers' compensation tracking, and related business processes to ensure consistency, compliance, and operational efficiency; serving as the primary school-based liaison to Human Resources/Payroll, facilitating effective communication and resolution of employee inquiries related to payroll, benefits, leave administration, and timekeeping; preparing, analyzing, and distributing payroll, attendance, and leave reports; verifying data accuracy; identifying trends or discrepancies; and providing information to support informed decision-making; delivering high-quality, responsive customer service to employees by addressing payroll questions clearly, resolving issues promptly, and ensuring a positive and professional experience; maintaining confidentiality and following established payroll procedures and timelines; ensuring processes align with evolving business needs and best practices; complying with all company policies and procedures; and other duties as assigned.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Competencies include problem solving, customer service, delegation, change management, written & oral communication, teamwork, adaptability, innovation, managing people, organizational support, judgment, motivation, professionalism, quality, and quantity.

Qualifications include an associate's degree (AA) or equivalent from two-year college or technical school, or more than five years related experience and/or training, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Travel requirements are minimal to schools, programs, and/or trainings.

Physical demands and work environment include standing, walking, sitting, reaching with hands and arms, climbing or balancing, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl, ability to work outdoors, and moderate noise.

Benefits include group health insurance plans, basic & supplemental life insurance, long term disability & short term disability options, 403(b) retirement savings plan with employer matching contribution if applicable, flexible spending account, pre-tax savings for health care, dependent care, and limited purpose post deductible, comprehensive benefit time package, employee assistance program, bereavement time & religious holidays, credit union access, tuition reimbursement program, employee network groups, access to professional learning opportunities with two fully paid courses through CREC University each year, and benefit from our exclusive partnership with Springfield College, offering a 15% discount on tuition for next-level degree programs.

Diversity, equity, & inclusion statement: CREC strives to understand and confront the symptoms and causes of racism and prejudice ranging from biases to aggressions to discriminatory policies, practices, and traditions that harm people from systemically marginalized groups or that benefit privileged groups. CREC staff and students acknowledge and respect people of all identifiers, such as race, socioeconomic status, gender identity and expression, education, age, ability, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, language, nationality, religion, and veteran status.

Disclaimer statement: The above is intended to describe the general content of and requirements for the performance of this job. It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities or physical requirements. Nothing in this job description restricts management's right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.