On-Site HR Generalist: Payroll, Benefits & Compliance

Pines Federal; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Pines Federal, a Houston-based law firm serving federal employees nationwide, seeks an HR Generalist to run payroll, administer benefits, and manage onboarding and records. You’ll handle policy inquiries, ensure compliance, and support the performance cycle, onboarding, and offboarding with precision.

You will maintain personnel files, handbook updates, and multi-state requirements, coordinating with brokers and carriers while protecting confidential information. This role is on-site in Houston.

Qualifications

• Three or more years in a generalist HR role covering payroll, benefits, onboarding, and personnel records.
• Hands-on payroll experience in Paychex or a comparable platform.
• Working knowledge of federal and state employment law: wage and hour, leave, classification and recordkeeping.
• Clear, accurate written communication, including the ability to document a conversation so it holds up later.
• Comfort with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, and willingness to learn our systems quickly.
• Discretion in handling compensation, medical and disciplinary information daily.

Responsibilities

• Run payroll and benefits administration for semi-monthly payroll cycles.
• Administer benefits enrollment, changes and terminations; liaise with brokers and carriers.
• Answer routine policy, pay, benefits, leave, and scheduling questions from the handbook.
• Document employee concerns and route harassment/discrimination complaints to the Managing Attorney.
• Support the performance cycle: manage reviews, provide forms, and coach on documentation.
• Own the start-date plan for new hires: confirm systems and access five days before day one.
• Manage onboarding deliverables including offer letters, handbook, payroll benefits, time off and confidentiality.
• Run offboarding with notice and ensure final pay and benefits are handled correctly.
• Build and document the personnel file structure, handbook, multi-state requirements, and HR procedures.
• Maintain daily HR records and update the calendar to prevent surprises.
• Recruit openings in-house: postings, sourcing, screening, scheduling, references and background checks.
• Prepare offer letters and present options and records to the decision maker.

Skills

Payroll processing

Benefits administration

Onboarding

Records management

Policy interpretation

Microsoft 365

Google Workspace

Communication

Tools

Paychex

Job description

Pines Federal, a Houston-based law firm serving federal employees nationwide, seeks an HR Generalist to run payroll, administer benefits, and manage onboarding and records. You’ll handle policy inquiries, ensure compliance, and support the performance cycle, onboarding, and offboarding with precision.

You will maintain personnel files, handbook updates, and multi-state requirements, coordinating with brokers and carriers while protecting confidential information. This role is on-site in Houston.