Payroll /HR Generalist

Kids for the Future; Detroit (MI); On-site; USD 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

Kids for the Future is seeking an HR/Payroll Administrative Specialist in Detroit to process authorized payroll transactions and maintain employee lifecycle records, including leave documentation and training records.

You will support onboarding and offboarding administration, ensure compliance with HR and payroll processes, and handle confidential information. The role reports to the HR Director of Compliance and operates within a nonprofit youth-serving environment.

Qualifications

• Experience processing payroll and validating time records.
• Maintaining employee records and supporting lifecycle transactions.
• Familiarity with HR and payroll processes and confidentiality requirements.

Responsibilities

• Process authorized payroll transactions and maintain employee lifecycle records.
• Coordinate onboarding and offboarding administration, training records, and leave documentation.
• Support employee-relations administration by documenting concerns and organizing case files.
• Respond to routine payroll, HR, and administrative questions and escalate high-risk concerns to the HR Director of Compliance.

Skills

Payroll processing

Time records validation

Employee records management

Employee lifecycle transactions

Education

High school diploma or GED

Associate degree in HR, Business Administration, Accounting, or related field

Equivalent combination of education, training, and relevant payroll or HR experience

Tools

UKG Ready

Job description

Description

Process authorized payroll transactions and administer employee lifecycle records, leave documentation, training records, employee-relations support, offboarding tasks, and routine administrative coordination. This role supports documented HR and payroll processes but does not authorize personnel actions, release payroll, post accounting entries, conduct final compliance review, or approve system access.

Reports to: HR Director of Compliance

• Maintain payroll and HR calendars; enter only authorized hires, terminations, compensation changes, time records, deductions, benefits, direct-deposit information, and employee-status changes.
• Validate approved time records; process regular and off-cycle payrolls; and prepare payroll registers, funding, change, and exception reports.
• Apply approved department, program, grant, and location coding and provide the approved payroll package to Accounting for journal-entry recording and reconciliation.
• Prepare payroll tax and benefit-payment schedules, payroll-provider reports supporting Forms 941, W-2, and W-3, workers' compensation wage reports, taxable fringe-benefit schedules, accrued PTO schedules, payroll budget data, and labor-cost reports.
• Maintain personnel files, employee data, required forms, policy acknowledgments, retention schedules, and confidential payroll and HR records.
• Order required employee and volunteer background checks through the approved provider; maintain authorization and status records; track pending, completed, expiring, and renewal checks; follow up on missing information; notify the appropriate department leader and HR Director of Compliance of completion status or exceptions; and protect confidential screening information.
• Coordinate approved onboarding and offboarding administration, training, licenses, certifications, background renewals, benefit documentation, leave and accommodation records, workers' compensation, unemployment, return-to-work records, final-pay information, and access-removal notifications.
• Support employee-relations administration by receiving concerns, organizing documentation, scheduling meetings, maintaining case files, tracking approved corrective actions, supporting benefit reconciliations, assisting with personnel-file

reviews, and supporting HR audits.

This role does not conduct final fact-finding, determine outcomes, or approve corrective action.

Maintain HR and administrative calendars, shared mailboxes, employee rosters, organization charts, job descriptions, forms, templates, routine correspondence, reports, presentations, office-supply requests, facilities coordination, subscriptions, renewals, and secure document storage.

• Respond to routine payroll, HR, and administrative questions and escolate policy, legal, privacy, discrimination, retaliation, safety, payroll, or other high-risk concerns to the HR Director of Compliance.

Requirements

• High school diploma or GED require
• Associate degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Accounting, or a related field preferred.
• Equivalent combination of education, training, and relevant payroll or HR administrative experience may be considered.
• Payroll, HR, compliance-related coursework, or SHRM certification preferred.
• Minimum of 2 years of relevant HR, payroll, or administrative experience required .
• Experience processing payroll, validating time records, maintaining employee records, and supporting employee lifecycle transactions preferred.
• Experience using UKG Ready or similar HRIS, payroll, timekeeping, benefits, or employee recordkeeping systems preferred.
• Experience handling confidential information, compliance-sensitive records, background checks, leave documentation, or personnel files preferred.
• Experience in a nonprofit, youth-serving, grant-funded, or regulated work environment preferred.