City : Hamilton

Category : Full-Time Support

Industry : Education

Employer : Mohawk College

Status:  Appendix D/Temporary Assignment (September 2023 – June 2025)

Hours:  Monday to Friday; 35 hours/week

Campus:  Fennell

Payband:  G

Salary Range:  $32.42

Posting Date:  September 11th, 2023

Closing Date:  September 22nd, 2023 at 7:00pm EST

We support and encourage the contributions of our diverse employees.  We are committed to nurturing an equitable, diverse and inclusive (EDI) environment for everyone who learns and works at Mohawk College. We believe the rich diversity among our students and the communities we serve should be reflected within our workforce.  As educators we believe it is important to act and show leadership in advancing the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion in our community. 

Mohawk College is currently recruiting for our next

Payroll Officer

Reporting to the Payroll Manager, the incumbent is responsible for the College’s remuneration policies and practices for the calculation, processing and production of employee pay in an accurate and timely manner, while maintaining compliance with established payroll practices, College policies, collective agreements, Administrative Terms & Conditions of Employment, and current government legislation using Banner HRIS and outsourced cloud-based payroll/HRIS software (Ceridian Dayforce).

The incumbent provides subject matter expertise and is responsible for full-time and/or part-time payroll. They will also be fully cross-trained on all Mohawk College payrolls (Administrative, Faculty, Support, Part-time, and Mohawk College Foundation)

The incumbent specializes in the reconciliation and remittance of all Canada Revenue Agency source deductions, Employer Health Tax, third party deductions (United Way, garnishments, etc.) and OPSEU union dues for all College employees.

This incumbent provides specialized expertise for the administration of all CAAT pension plans (FT, PT & RCA), RCA pension contributions, service calculations, T4 Pension adjustments, annual DCT reporting, pension service purchase and the regular completion of paperwork related to employee status changes. They will also be cross-trained on CAAT pension monthly remittance for Mohawk College and Mohawk College Foundation as well as DCT reconciliation.

The incumbent is responsible for Partial Load Sun Life benefits invoicing and collection of premiums.

The incumbent also oversees the electronic expense reimbursements process and will assist the Payroll Manager in the achievement of departmental goals.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

The duties of this position will include, but are not limited to the following:

Payroll Administration, Processing & Year End Reporting

• Accountable for the processing, auditing and balancing of semi-monthly and biweekly payrolls for both union and non-union employees.  Collectively, 3,000+ employees over 5 pay groups.
• Analyze paperwork and decentralized data input provided by internal stakeholders (e.g. HR, employees, etc.) to ensure completeness, compliance and accuracy against the College’s Collective Agreements, internal policies and/or ESA legislated standards.
• Responsible for entering and maintaining employee records in Ceridian: new employee set up, compensation changes, address changes, direct deposit, federal and provincial tax forms, CAAT Pension enrolment/departure/change forms, garnishments, reduced workload arrangements, transfers, leaves, temporary assignments, additional compensation, retirements, prepaid leaves, professional development leaves, appropriate earnings and deductions and proper payment of sick days.
• Review the accuracy of source and payroll deductions (e.g. CPP, EI, CAAT pension and Sun Life benefits, union dues, etc.).
• Calculate and validate the pro-ration of new hire and terminations first/last pay including vacation proration using Excel formulas (e.g. FT Faculty salary deferral, work 10/12 months but paid for 12 months).
• Analyze and audit master file data and ensure the data in Banner HRIS mirrors the employee data in the Ceridian payroll/HRIS system.
• Execute and review audit reports identified in the payroll processing checklist and delegate corrections as required.
• Subject matter expert in payroll legislation, policies and collective agreements and able to interpret and apply legislation and policy to ensure compensation compliance.
• Process special payments (e.g. negotiated lump sum, stipend, maternity leave top up, retro payments, step increments, pay adjustments, lieu pay, severance, sick leave gratuity) and ensure items are taxed and reported accurately.
• Process regular additional payments (e.g. overtime, shift premium, on-call, coordinator allowances) and manage FOAPAL splits where required.
• Calculate and process statutory holiday pay.
• Process hourly, salary and step increases annually in accordance with compensation policies and collective agreements.
• Calculate and process mass retro payment batches when necessary related to salary changes.
• Actively monitor and track secondments/temp assignments/STD/LTD in Excel spreadsheets and follow up with HR when contracts/sick leaves are scheduled to end to prevent overpayments.
• Manage active and departed employee role security and access to Dayforce for employee self-service features including electronic pay stubs and T4s.
• Review, validate and reconcile quarterly and year-end balancing & T4 reporting; including the balancing, production and distribution of annual T4 slips. The calculation and application of taxable benefits such as loan interest and tuition, etc. Process year-end related entries for T4’s, balance CPP and EI and ensure all earnings are properly reflected on the T4’s, and amend T4’s when necessary.
• Manage YE adjustments and special reporting for tax-exempt indigenous employee income.
• Responsible for the annual reconciliation of payroll year-end and T4 processing.
• Calculate and process manual cheques upon request (pay advances and replacement cheques), manually calculate deductions, net pay and make corresponding updates in Ceridian Dayforce.
• Action overpayments and underpayments by working with department managers and impacted employees to arrange repayment plans. Identifying and tracking issues that led to inaccurate pay and working with Departments/HR to reduce future occurrences.
• Calculate deferred earnings for new hires, retirements, terminations, maternity/parental leaves, STD, LTD and other unpaid leaves. Adjust employees’ July and August pays based on their vacation entitlement (reduced deferred earnings), complete CAAT pension leave and purchase forms. Inform employees of CAAT pension service purchase options and complete service purchase process.
• Analyze and review eSAFs for accuracy and provide guidance to HR/RTW Coordinator/Colleagues/Departments/Managers for completion.
• Configure and test new payroll earning/deduction codes in Ceridian payroll/HRIS as required. Identify and troubleshoot configuration errors work with Ceridian support to resolve.
• Configure and test payroll compliance changes in legislation and/or College policy. Identify and suggest changes to the Banner HRIS, Ceridian payroll/HRIS to enhance accuracy, efficiency and compliance.
• Stay informed of current developments, plan changes and legislation which may affect areas of responsibility and initiate coding configuration changes as required.
• Subject matter expert with the ability to provide explanation and clarification of payroll related issues to internal and external stakeholders.
• Facilitate eligible & non-eligible RRSP transfers of large lump sum payments upon employee request when large payments are issued (severance arrangements, vacation pay lump sums and sick leave gratuity).
• Administer payments or deductions of approved tuition loans, computer loans and tuition reimbursements for active FT employees.
• Advise employees on the financial considerations of maternity/parental leave top and deciding between 12 or 18 month leaves by providing customized spreadsheets and meeting with employees as required.
• Advise employees on the financial considerations of prepaid leave and professional development leaves.
• Test and validate various HR & Finance system upgrades.
• Liaise and partner with cross-functional departments and internal stakeholders (e.g. HR, Health & Safety, Finance, etc.) to clarify discrepancies and ensure compliance with internal payroll processes.
• Fully cross-trained on all payrolls e.g. Administrative, Faculty, Support, Part-time and Mohawk College Foundation, and is responsible to back fill for colleagues during vacations, leaves as required.

Pension & Benefit Administration

CAAT Pension

• Proficient in contribution, service and earning formulas for FT, PT and RCA pension plans as well as the calculation for Pension Adjustments.
• Reconcile FT/PT CAAT pension at year end (contributions, service & earnings). Reconciliation must be done manually, one-person at a time, using the online calculator tool provided on the CAAT website.
• Calculate Pension Adjustment for T4 reporting. (This number impacts the employee’s available RRSP contribution room when completing annual income tax returns).
• Reconcile and remit employee and employer CAAT and RCA pension contributions for all payrolls monthly.
• Analyze, reconcile and correct CAAT pension, ensuring that pensionable earnings, pension contributions and pension adjustments are accurate.
• Review fiscal year end requirements and the Annual Statement of Contributions (CAAT & RCA) and Schedule of Adjustments.
• Complete annual CAAT Pension Data Reporting (DCT) and analyze discrepancies. This report provides required information to CAAT in determining the value of an employee’s pension and the earliest retirement date as well as generating employees’ CAAT pension statements.
• Respond to inquiries from CAAT pension regarding reported data.
• Advise employees when buy back options are available, initiate paperwork and meet with employees as required. Track payments through payroll deduction or process payments via cheque/RRSP.
• Collaborate with HR to provide consultation on benefit and pension impacts of employee leaves or special workload arrangements, leaves without pay, non-medical modified workloads and maternity/parental leaves. Assists HR & employees in completing necessary pension plan paperwork.
• Liaise with CAAT employer representative to validate the application of plan terms and conditions.
• Stay informed and current regarding new developments, plan changes and legislation which may affect areas of responsibility by attending CAAT employer webinars on a regular and ongoing basis.

Administering Sun Life Premiums

• Launch benefit enrollment in Ceridian Dayforce for new hires. Monitor Sun Life payroll deductions for new hires.
• Calculate retroactive deductions and claw backs.
• Administer benefit changes (e.g. life event change) and stop deductions in collaboration with HR.
• Calculate and advise employee in writing on the value of Sun Life benefits for periods of unpaid leave. Payroll will meet with the employee as required.
• Coordinate billing for employees on short term leaves, prepare letters and make deductions or process employee benefit cheques as required. Leaves longer than one month are referred to the Payroll Specialist for billing and tracking.
• Stay informed and current regarding benefit developments, plan changes and legislation which may affect areas of responsibility.
• Administer changes to employee benefits related to termination pay outs, overpayments, vacation pay owing and sick leave gratuity.
• Monitor and track employee age-outs and stop deductions for a variety of benefit life and LTD premium types when employees reach the max age.

Administering Sun Life premiums for Partial Load Academics

• Monitor and track selected benefits in tracking spreadsheet (used by Payroll Specialist) for monthly Sun Life invoice reconciliation.
  
• Generate an individual employee benefit invoice using FAST and prepare a payment option sheet (Credit, Debit, Cheque, Payroll Deduction) for each member as well as an individualized benefit summary letter even for staff who have chosen benefits that are all employer paid.
• Receive & record payments on daily basis, working together with Payroll Specialist.
• First point of contact for employees regarding the benefit rates and methods of payment.
• Process payments through PT payroll upon employee request and cancel invoices.
• Monitor benefit billing email, receive employees’ payroll deduction consent forms and update in Ceridian Dayforce.
• Collect outstanding Sun Life premium payments.
• Updates annual benefit premium changes on paper invoices as required.
• Keeps up to date regarding current developments, plan changes and legislation which may affect areas of responsibility.

Timesheet Coordinating & Stat Holiday Processing

Stat Holiday

• Calculate, process and validate statutory holiday pay eligibility & calculation for eligible employees based on unique criteria for union & non-union employees based on detailed analysis of data provided on a Cognos statutory holiday report.
• Troubleshoot Cognos report directly with corporate reporting as legislation changes and data continues to improve. This represents an extra 1-2 days of work for each holiday per year (10 holidays plus December Holiday Closure).

Timesheet Coordination

• Manage timesheet inquiries and timesheet resolution working with internal stakeholders (managers and employees) across multiple departments and College campuses.
• Monitor and submit online timesheets for employees who enter hours but do not submit them on time for manager approval.
• Regular follow up with managers to approve online timesheets before bi-weekly deadlines.
• Receive, enter and sort paper timesheets (80 – 200 per bi-weekly pay).
• Audit paper timesheets for hourly rate, FOAPAL, no contract in Banner, etc.
• Manually compare online hours with hours submitted on paper timesheets to prevent duplication of hours and overpayments.
• Liaise with Managers, C&BC, RTW Consultant to ensure HRIS compensation and benefit administration is consistent with data entered into Banner HRIS. Examples include: employees have reported hours worked on the paper timesheet but no active contract exists in Banner or when hourly rate on paper timesheet does not match hourly rate in Banner.
• Maintain and periodically audit the approver proxy designations to ensure proxy meets appropriate internal guidelines.

Post Payroll Coordinating, Reporting & Responsibilities

• Analyze, review and reconcile post payroll commit reports to ensure earnings and deductions balance to amount withdrawn from the bank.
• Generate and review Records of Employment for employees each pay where an interruption of earnings occurs and respond to Service Canada inquiries regarding hours and earnings reported.
• Prepare invoicing for Mohawk College employee’s seconded to outside organizations.
• Calculate costing for the Payroll Manager on Mohawk College employee’s seconded to OPSEU positions.
• Balance payroll output in Excel (Payroll Totals) to ensure summary of earnings and deductions balance to amount being withdrawn from College bank account.
• Analyze post-commit payroll data to complete payroll regression analysis and payroll metrics reports using Excel.
• Reconcile and Remit IAHS/McMaster parking deductions.
• Run monthly FAST reports to prepare account reconciliations for multiple accounts per pay group. Investigate & correct any items not cleared.
• Prepare year end journal entries/accruals for the Payroll Specialist for any OT, Lump Sum Contracts, Prepaid Leaves, Special Accruals and Maternity/Parental Leaves at fiscal year end.
• Review and analyze College-wide reconciliations, remittances, and reporting for a number of statutory and voluntary deductions. This includes monitoring remittance deadlines, ensuring that all payments are for the correct amount, and are deposited at the appropriate agencies by the required due dates and providing payroll reports and analysis of data to various internal and external stakeholders. These agencies include Canada Revenue Agency, Ministry of Finance, CAAT Pension, OPSEU, United Way, Service Canada, Family Support Office, Courts, Ceridian, and cheques related employee tuition loans.
• Stay informed and keep current on developments, plan changes and legislation which may affect areas of responsibility.
• Analyze data and provide reports to internal and external stakeholders: CRA, CAAT, Service Canada, Family Support Office, Ceridian, Financial Planning Office, HR, Internal/External Auditors, etc.

Other Recurring Duties

• Coordinate and or participate in special projects relating to payroll, pension, benefits and/or Finance department strategic initiatives.
• Respond to questions from employees and time-keepers related to payroll timelines, pay discrepancies, earning statements, deductions, etc.
• Participate in CSEP recruitment process and provide new hire orientation, system and payroll process training.
• Create and maintain CSEP process and documentation.
• Back-up to Payroll Specialist and Payroll Analyst(s).
• Fulfill other duties as required by the Manager, Payroll Services.

QUALIFICATIONS:

The successful applicant must have:

• A minimum of three (3) year post-secondary education in Accounting, Business or Human Resources or equivalent.
• PCP Designation from National Payroll Institute – Required.
• PLP Designation is an Asset.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in high volume, fast-paced payroll department, preferably with medium to large unionized public sector organization.
• Experience with computerized payroll HRIS system (Banner or Ceridian preferred).
• Experience with high volume T4/T4A reconciliation and processing.
• Solid accounting knowledge related to payroll and benefits in a large organization with multiple cost centres, the application of internal controls, and experience with external and internal audits.
• Highly effective customer service and collaborative skills including the ability to work successfully in a team environment and independently is required.
• Advanced computer skills, specifically in Word, Outlook and Excel, with demonstrated ability to compare, analyze and manage large data sets within spreadsheets.
• Strong and comprehensive knowledge of Employment Standards Act, 2000 and experience interpreting collective agreements, CRA regulations pertaining to statutory withholdings, taxable benefits and YE processing.
• Knowledge of group benefit programs and pension administration.
• Excellent time management and organizational skills with the ability to prioritize multiple tasks to meet strict deadlines.
• Demonstrated commitment and understanding of human rights, equity, diversity and inclusion with the ability to communicate and work effectively inter-culturally with diverse groups of students, employees and the community.

Mohawk College prioritizes recruiting and retaining diverse employees. With this in mind, the College is committed to fostering inclusive and barrier-free recruitment and selection processes.

Should you require accommodation through any stage of the recruitment process, please contact the Human Resources Department at (905) 575 - 2047.

Mohawk College is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from racialized persons, women, Indigenous people, persons with disabilities, S2LGBTQIA+ persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.

For more information concerning the Mohawk College strategic plan, please see: strategicplan.mohawkcollege.ca/