HR & Payroll Specialist

Continuum II Inc; Hamilton; On-site; CAD 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

C2 Employee Benefits in Waterdown, Ontario is seeking an HR & Payroll Specialist to manage end-to-end HR administration and semi-monthly payroll for a client in the Niagara region. You will support employee relations, onboarding, benefits, performance management, and compliance, while acting as a trusted liaison for employees, managers, and external providers.

The role emphasizes confidentiality, consistency, and timely documentation.

Qualifications

• Hands-on HR operations experience including payroll and benefits.
• Experience with recruitment, onboarding, and employee lifecycle.
• Knowledge of Ontario employment standards and confidentiality requirements.

Responsibilities

• Manage end-to-end HR administration and semi-monthly payroll.
• Support employee relations, onboarding, benefits, and performance management.
• Coordinate leaves, compliance, and HR reporting.

Skills

HR operations

Employee relations

Payroll administration

Recruitment & onboarding

Benefits administration

Tools

Ceridian payroll

Microsoft 365

Jane App & benefit portals

Box/SharePoint

Job description

C2 Employee Benefits Full Time Waterdown, ON $60,000 - $90,000 CAD per year

One of our clients in the Niagara region is hiring!

Company Overview

Our client is a leading provider dedicated to delivering exceptional, client-centered rehabilitation services for individuals with serious injuries, including traumatic brain injuries. Our team of over 50 skilled occupational therapists is committed to restoring quality of life through innovative, evidence-based approaches and compassionate care.

Position Summary

The HR & Payroll Specialist is responsible for end-to-end HR administration and employee support, including employee relations, recruitment and onboarding, benefits, performance management, employee lifecycle administration, leaves, compliance, reporting, systems coordination, documentation, business continuity, and semi-monthly payroll. The role serves as a dependable point of contact for employees, managers, company owners, and external providers while maintaining accurate records, meeting recurring deadlines, and ensuring HR processes are handled consistently and confidentially.

Key Responsibilities

Employee Relations & HR Support

• Respond to employee and management HR inquiries promptly, professionally, and with appropriate discretion.
• Provide guidance on company policies, employment standards, HR practices, and routine workplace concerns.
• Support managers with day-to-day employee relations matters and elevate complex issues when appropriate.

Recruitment & Onboarding

• Manage the full-cycle recruitment process, including job postings, screening, interviews, reference checks, candidate follow-up, and hiring coordination.
• Prepare and issue offer letters and employment agreements.
• Coordinate new-hire onboarding, including required signatures and documentation, systems/email setup, policy orientation, mandatory training access, and team introductions.
• Maintain complete new-hire records and communicate role, start-date, reporting, and training information to relevant stakeholders.

Extended Health & Benefits Administration

• Set up and maintain extended health and dental benefit plans with the applicable provider.
• Enroll employees, manage eligibility and plan changes, and process coverage adjustments or terminations.
• Liaise with benefit broker to resolve employee or administrative issues and submit claims on employees’ behalf when required.
• Coordinate benefit continuation, cancellation, or employee premium collection during leaves.

Performance Management

• Coordinate and track monthly or quarterly performance reviews.
• Provide managers with review templates, documentation support, and assistance with feedback discussions.
• Identify and recommend training or development opportunities based on performance needs and organizational priorities.
• Coordinate employee and contractor experience surveys, reporting, feedback summaries, and action planning.

Employee Lifecycle Administration

• Maintain accurate, confidential employee records and ensure documentation is filed in the appropriate repository.
• Administer promotions, transfers, compensation changes, hours changes, status adjustments, and other employee changes.
• Draft and issue formal correspondence, amendments, and addendums relating to employment changes.
• Review and process time-off requests after manager approval, as applicable.
• Prepare company-wide communications when required.
• Process terminations promptly, including same-day administration when requested.
• Maintain employee communication lists and coordinate supporting HR documents such as clinician CVs.

Employee Leaves

• Manage leave-related employee communications from the start of leave through return to work.
• Coordinate benefit cancellation, continuation, or employee premium collection during leave periods.
• Manage return-to-work communications, documentation, and administrative follow-up.
• Ensure leave-related HR and payroll changes are tracked and communicated to the appropriate parties.

Disciplinary, Compliance & Regulatory Support

• Advise on and document disciplinary actions in alignment with company policy and applicable employment requirements.
• Support workplace investigations and maintain appropriate follow-up documentation.
• Coordinate annual professional liability certificate completion and records.
• Support compliance activities relating to the ESA, OHSA, AODA, and other applicable requirements.
• Coordinate documentation, responses, and follow-up for Ministry of Labour claims or inquiries.
• Prepare or coordinate monthly HR and payroll reports as required.
• Recommend and implement process improvements, policy updates, templates, and workflow enhancements.
• Maintain task tracking, open-item lists, HR templates, guides, and recurring process documentation.

Systems, IT & Operational Support

• Coordinate employee email/account setup and provide first-line troubleshooting for routine IT issues, escalating when required.
• Coordinate user-account, backup/recovery, forwarding, directory, and call-routing issues with IT or external service providers.
• Add or update users in systems such as Box, Harvest, Adobe, Jane App, BastionGPT and complete benefit/provider platform enrolments as required.
• Coordinate HR/payroll service subscriptions, account changes, billing changes, and cancellations.

Documentation & Business Continuity

• Maintain organized HR files, templates, guides, saved communications, and self-service resources in SharePoint, Box, or other approved repositories.
• Maintain clear process documentation of recurring HR and payroll responsibilities.
• Support structured transitions of therapist services, including file transfer, active recruitment, outstanding matters, and service close-out.

Payroll Administration

• Process semi-monthly payroll accurately and on schedule for employees and consultants.
• Verify hours, vacation, leave balances, low-billable items, and other payroll inputs before processing.
• Coordinate payroll adjustments, reimbursements, unpaid leave, final pay, vacation payouts, ROEs, sign-on bonuses, LTD and benefits deductions, and education expenses.
• Ensure statutory deductions and remittances, including CRA, WSIB, and EHT obligations, are completed on time as applicable.
• Manage RRSP/DPSP contributions and monthly remittances to the plan provider.
• Maintain Ceridian or equivalent payroll entries, including recurring intercompany shared-staff allocations and payment/deposit changes.
• Resolve payroll discrepancies and coordinate supporting information with finance, managers, or company owners.
• Prepare payroll-related tax forms such as T2200 forms when required.
• Maintain payroll process documentation and support payroll training and handoff.

Required Qualifications/Capabilities

• Hands-on experience in HR operations, employee relations, recruitment, onboarding, benefits administration, and payroll administration.
• Working knowledge of Ontario employment-related requirements and the ability to apply company policies consistently.
• Experience handling confidential employee information with discretion and sound judgment.
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple recurring deadlines, including fixed payroll deadlines.
• Ability to draft professional employee correspondence, agreements, amendments, process documentation, and company communications.
• Strong organization, follow-through, problem-solving, and stakeholder communication skills.
• Ability to identify missing information, resolve routine issues independently, and elevate higher-risk matters appropriately.

Preferred Systems / Tools Experience

• Ceridian or a comparable payroll platform.
• Microsoft 365, including Outlook, Teams, Excel, and SharePoint.
• Box or comparable cloud document-management tools.
• Indeed or comparable recruitment platforms.
• Jane App and benefit/provider portals such as Sun Life, ProviderConnect, and TELUS Health.
• Other application experience: HCAI, Harvest, Adobe, and other AI systems

Success in the Role

• Employees and managers receive timely, accurate, professional HR support.
• Recruitment, onboarding, employee changes, leaves, and terminations are completed with clear ownership and complete documentation.
• Benefits and employee records remain accurate and current.
• Performance and compliance activities are tracked and completed consistently.
• HR files, templates, reports, and process documentation are organized and easy to locate.
• Operational issues are coordinated efficiently with the appropriate internal or external contacts.
• Payroll is processed accurately, discrepancies are identified early, statutory and plan remittances are completed on time, and recurring deadlines are met.
• Support the senior management team after hours when needed.