Employee Services Specialist II

Primary Work Location:

Westborough, MA with hybrid work options

Job Summary:

The Employee Services Specialist II is responsible for ensuring the University's ongoing compliance with all federal, state, and local tax laws and regulations. The individual is responsible for the setup, auditing, analyzing, and addressing tax inquiries relating to payroll. The individual may also work with partners in other departments such as HR Applications, Human Resources, Treasury, and Controller's Offices. The individual will communicate directly with campus leads and employees of the University.

Essential Functions:

• Responsible for the maintenance of employee records and documentation related to payroll tax transactions in accordance with state and federal policies, processes, and guidelines.
• Responsible for multi-state tax setup and audit including home address, job location, state tax setup and distribution
• Responsible for the tax treaty setup between Sprintax and HR Direct.
• Resolution of common issues and errors related to the biweekly payroll processing.
• Analyze balance reports and process any necessary adjustments: including Medicare, Federal withholding, State withholding, Unemployment, PFML, and nonresident alien on a pay period basis
• Assist with integrations between HR Direct and other UMass software
• Assist with automations to streamline existing processes.
• Act as liaison between UMPO and campus payroll leads with respect to payroll tax questions
• Provide customer service to employees regarding paycheck data and tax withholding questions
• Serve as a member of the tax update team ensuring tax tables/calculations are correct
• Assist the team in the yearly upgrades to HR Direct
• Assist Payroll Manager in quarterly MAPFML, Unemployment, multi-state tax reporting to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• Assist campuses in year-end analysis and facilitate required adjustments
• In coordination with the Employee Services Manager review within PeopleSoft calendar year-end reconciliations related to W2 and 1042S tax forms, including verifying the system is calculating the correct taxable gross wages and all fields on the forms are completed accurately.

Other Functions:

• Resource of information and processing assistance for UMPO and campus departments
• Stay up to date with tax changes, IRS rules and regulations, and multi-state tax laws
• Use provided test environments to recreate problems and find potential solutions
• Assist in documentation and maintenance procedures
• Support the processing of payroll, as needed
• Other related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Education, Experience):

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience with 1 to 3 years of progressively responsible experience in personnel and/or payroll administration.
• Understanding of federal and state regulations related to salaries, wages, taxes, and other payroll related matters
• Familiarity with requirements of personnel management and payroll process for higher education.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality of employee information.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.

Preferred Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Education, Experience):

• Experience with PeopleSoft HCM preferred.
• Experience with Multi-State Tax
• Ability to prioritize workload and multitask as needed.
• Demonstrated problem solving and analytical skills as well as time management, organization, and attention to detail.
• Able to work independently or in a team setting.

Working Conditions:

• Typical office environment.
• May require occasional hours on nights and weekends.

Additional Details:

Salary commensurate with experience up to $68,000.