Payroll Specialist

Central States Funds; United States; On-site; USD 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Central States Funds is seeking a Payroll Specialist to ensure accurate and timely payroll for union and non-union staff, while adhering to CBAs and regulations. The role includes process optimization within the HRIS, reporting, and collaboration across Total Rewards, Finance, and Pension teams.

Responsibilities include handling changes, audits, and year-end activities in Workday and UKG, with emphasis on data integrity, confidentiality, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of progressive payroll experience supporting union and non-union populations, with the ability to resolve complex pay discrepancies.
• Strong knowledge of payroll regulations, wage and hour laws, and CBAs.
• Hands-on experience with HRIS payroll platforms (Workday, UKG), including system implementations or payroll redesign.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and payroll reporting tools, with strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Process weekly payroll for union and non-union hourly and salaried employees per CBAs and policies.
• Manage payroll changes for hires, terminations, promotions, transfers, and union status updates.
• Interpret CBAs and wage laws and respond to employee inquiries.
• Coordinate year-end processing with Total Rewards, Finance, and Pension teams.
• Respond to payroll inquiries with confidentiality and accuracy.
• Complete year-end duties in Workday and UKG.

Skills

Payroll experience

Analytical

Attention to detail

Communication

Education

Associate's degree

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Workday

UKG

Excel

Job description

Overview

The Payroll Specialist is responsible for the accurate and timely processing of payroll for a diverse workforce that includes unionized hourly employees, unionized salaried employees, and non-union salaried exempt employees. This role ensures compliance with collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), company policies, and all applicable payroll regulations. In addition to transactional payroll responsibilities, the Payroll Specialist plays an active role in streamlining payroll processes, identifying system efficiencies within the HRIS, and leveraging reporting and data analysis to support payroll operations and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• Payroll Processing & Compliance – Process weekly payroll for union and non union hourly and salaried employees, ensuring accurate application of wage rates, overtime, shift differentials, premiums, retro pay, and other earnings in alignment with CBAs and company policies.
• Manage payroll changes for hires, terminations, promotions, transfers, and union status updates, while ensuring correct calculation and withholding of union dues, benefit deductions, garnishments, and related items.
• Interpret and apply collective bargaining agreements and federal, state, and local wage and hour laws (including FLSA) to payroll processing and employee pay inquiries.
• Partner with Total Rewards, Finance, and Pension teams on year-end processing, compensation cycles, audits, retirement transitions, and other cross functional initiatives.
• Respond to employee payroll inquiries with professionalism and confidentiality and serve as a payroll subject matter resource for HR and business leaders.
• Complete year-end payroll responsibilities in both Workday and UKG.

Payroll Auditing & Controls

• Perform regular payroll audits to validate accuracy of pay, deductions, and system configurations.
• Review payroll registers, variance reports, and exception reports prior to payroll submission.
• Identify discrepancies, research root causes, and implement corrective actions to prevent reoccurrence.
• Support internal audits by providing payroll documentation, reports, and reconciliations.

Process Improvement, HRIS Optimization & Reporting

• Evaluate payroll workflows and procedures to identify opportunities for process improvements and efficiency gains.
• Partner with the HR Payroll Manager to optimize HRIS (Workday) configurations, pay rules, and automation, and support system testing, transition and implementation activities from UKG to new HRIS (Workday), integrations, configuration changes and updates.
• Develop and maintain payroll procedures, job aids and documentation to support consistent processing.
• Use HRIS payroll reporting tools to support payroll operations, audits and compliance requirements, and analyze data to proactively identify risks, inefficiencies, and recurring payroll issues.

Qualifications

• Associate's or Bachelor's degree in HR, Accounting, Finance, Business, or related field preferred (or equivalent experience).
• 3+ years of progressive payroll experience supporting union and non union populations, with demonstrated ability to resolve complex pay discrepancies.
• Strong knowledge of payroll regulations, wage and hour laws, and collective bargaining agreements.
• Hands on experience with HRIS payroll platforms (Workday, UKG), including involvement in system implementations or payroll process redesign.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and payroll reporting tools, with strong analytical and problem solving skills.
• High attention to detail and ability to manage sensitive and confidential information.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• CPP or FPC certification preferred; multi state payroll experience preferred.

CompensationAnnual Salary Range: $65K-$85K(The posted range of pay represents the anticipated pay scale for this position. Final pay will be determined based on a variety of job-related factors, including, but not limited to, skills, experience, education, certifications, internal equity, and organizational needs.)