Payroll & Benefits Specialist

Red Door Escape Room - Corporate; Fort Worth (TX); Hybrid; USD 65,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus eligibility: up to 5% annually

Benefits package: medical, dental, 401

Job summary

Red Door Escape Room - Corporate is seeking a Payroll & Benefits Specialist to manage payroll for 400+ team members across multiple states, with a strong emphasis on California compliance. The role partners with People, Finance, and Operations to audit payroll and administer benefits.

The position is hybrid in Fort Worth, with 1–2 days in the office weekly, focusing on accurate, timely pay and robust payroll systems. Experience with Paylocity is strongly preferred.

Qualifications

• 3-5 years of payroll experience with hands-on California payroll compliance for a large hourly or variable-hour workforce.
• Experience configuring a payroll/HRIS platform - setting up locations, pay codes, and PTO/leave policies (Paylocity experience strongly preferred).
• Experience running or supporting a proactive compliance audit process for payroll practices.
• Comfortable interpreting new wage-and-hour legislation and translating it into practical policy and process changes.
• Working knowledge of FLSA, multi-state wage and hour law, and benefits compliance (ACA, COBRA, ERISA).
• Strong Excel/Google Sheets skills with the ability to reconcile data across systems.
• High attention to detail and a strong sense of discretion — you'll regularly handle confidential pay and personal data.
• Clear, patient communication style; you can explain a pay stub or a benefits change to a team member who’s never seen either before.

Responsibilities

• Process biweekly or semi-monthly payroll across multiple locations and states, including hourly, salaried, and seasonal team members, using Paylocity.
• Process pay and position changes in Paylocity including raises, promotions, transfers, and status updates.
• Own federal, state, and local wage-and-hour compliance for a large, variable hour workforce: daily/weekly overtime, meal and rest break premiums, split shift, reporting-time pay, and paid sick leave accrual.
• Run recurring, proactive payroll compliance audits across all locations and pay policies - catching issues before they become legal exposure.
• Support payroll tax accounts and registrations across states - filings, notices, and day-to-day questions.
• Support our HRIS (Paylocity) day to day: set up new locations, configure payroll and PTO/leave policies and pay codes.
• Track evolving wage-and-hour requirements and translate them into practical scheduling and pay-policy changes.
• Administer employee benefits programs - health, dental, vision, retirement, and leave - including enrollments, changes, terminations, and audits.
• Respond to team member questions about pay, deductions, benefits eligibility, and status changes.

Skills

Payroll processing

California payroll

Payroll tax filings

Excel/Sheets

HRIS Paylocity

Tools

Paylocity

Job description

Description

About the Role

The Payroll & Benefits Specialist plays an important role in taking care of our team members by making sure they are paid accurately, on time, and in compliance with applicable wage and hour requirements. This role owns payroll processing for 400+ team members across multiple states and locations, with a large hourly workforce and significant operations in California.

Beyond processing payroll, this person will help us build strong, reliable payroll and benefits processes behind the scenes. They'll partner closely with the People Team, Finance, and Operations to audit payroll, support our payroll tax accounts, manage and improve our HRIS, reconcile benefits, and support day-to-day benefits administration.

We're looking for someone who is detail-oriented, curious, and proactive - someone who can catch an issue before it becomes a problem, isn't afraid to dig into the details, and is always looking for ways to make our processes simpler, more accurate, and better for our team members.

This is a hybrid role based in Fort Worth, with in-office time expected 1-2 days per week

What You'll Do

• Process biweekly or semi-monthly payroll across multiple locations and states, including hourly, salaried, and seasonal team members, using Paylocity.
• Process pay and position changes in Paylocity including raises, promotions, transfers, and status updates.
• Own federal, state, and local wage-and-hour compliance for a large, variable hour workforce: daily/weekly overtime, meal and rest break premiums, split shift, reporting-time pay, and paid sick leave accrual.
• Run recurring, proactive payroll compliance audits across all locations and pay policies - catching issues like incorrect policy assignments or missed imports before they become legal exposure.
• Support payroll tax accounts and registrations across states - filings, notices, and day-to-day questions - partnering with our payroll tax provider and Finance.
• Support our HRIS (Paylocity) day to day: set up new locations, configure payroll and PTO/leave policies and pay codes, and serve as the go-to person for questions about the system.
• Track evolving wage-and-hour requirements and translate them into practical scheduling and pay-policy changes.
• Administer employee benefits programs - health, dental, vision, retirement, and leave - including enrollments, changes, terminations, answering questions, vendor invoice reconciliation, and assisting with audits.
• Respond to team member questions about pay, deductions, benefits eligibility, and status changes (e.g., moving between seasonal and parttime/full-time).

Requirements

What You’ll Bring

• 3-5 years of payroll experience with hands-on California payroll compliance for a large hourly or variable-hour workforce.
• Experience configuring a payroll/HRIS platform - setting up locations, pay codes, and PTO/leave policies (Paylocity experience strongly preferred).
• Experience running or supporting a proactive compliance audit process for payroll practices.
• Comfortable interpreting new wage-and-hour legislation and translating it into practical policy and process changes.
• Working knowledge of FLSA, multi-state wage and hour law, and benefits compliance (ACA, COBRA, ERISA).
• Strong Excel/Google Sheets skills with the ability to reconcile data across systems.
• High attention to detail and a strong sense of discretion — you'll regularly handle confidential pay and personal data.
• Clear, patient communication style; you can explain a pay stub or a benefits change to a team member who’s never seen either before.

Nice to Have

• CPP (Certified Payroll Professional) designation.
• Experience supporting payroll tax account setup or registrations across multiple states.
• Experience in retail, hospitality, or entertainment, especially with a large hourly and/or seasonal workforce.
• Experience supporting a company operating across many small locations rather than one large office.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary: $65,000-$70,000/year depending on experience
• Bonus Eligibility: Up to 5% annually
• Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, PTO, 401(k)

Why Red Door?

At Red Door, we believe in putting People Over Profit. Our People Team exists to create an exceptional Team Member experience by supporting leaders, ensuring compliance, and continuously improving the systems and processes that help our business succeed. The Payroll & Benefits Specialist plays a critical role in delivering one of the most important experiences we provide - making sure every Team Member is paid accurately, cared for through competitive benefits, and supported by reliable systems.