PERSONNEL ASSISTANT

Honolulu; Honolulu (HI); On-site; USD 51,000 - 67,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Generous vacation and sick leave

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

Pre-tax transportation benefits

Employee assistance program (EAP)

Job summary

Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation is seeking a Personnel Assistant to support HR operations in our Honolulu offices. You will interpret policies, manage recruitment and personnel transactions, and ensure compliance with civil service rules while maintaining organized records.

Key duties include advising staff on policies, publishing job openings, processing applications, coordinating interviews, and liaising with DHR/BFS/ERS as needed.

Qualifications

• Combination of education and experience equivalent to graduation from high school plus public personnel clerical experience.
• Ability to interpret Civil Service laws, rules, and bargaining unit contracts.
• Experience with recruitment, payroll transactions, and personnel records is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Advise staff on employment policies and bargaining agreements.
• Oversee recruitment, applications, interviews, and orientation.
• Prepare and supervise personnel/payroll transactions for appointments, transfers, promotions, resignations.
• Coordinate with DHR, BFS, EUTF, ERS and ensure compliance with regulations.
• Maintain electronic and hard copy personnel records.

Skills

Recruitment processes

Policy interpretation

Civil service rules

Education

High school diploma + 3 years clerical public personnel experience

Job description

$4,560.50 – $6,003.00/Month
Job Type:Full-Time Temporary
Location:1099 Alakea Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Department:Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation
Apply Before:Continuous

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) is the public transit authority responsible for planning and constructing Skyline, Honolulu’s rail transit system. It is the first fully automated, driverless urban light metro system in the United States and represents the largest public infrastructure project in the history of Hawaii.

The Personnel Assistant plays a vital role in supporting HART’s human resources operations.This position focuses on interpreting policies, overseeing recruitment, processing personnel transactions, and ensuring compliance with regulations while fostering a productive and organized work environment.

Duties and Responsibilities

Advise administrative and supervisory staff, and other employees, by interpreting and explaining employment policies and collective bargaining agreements. Topics include recruitment, placement, transfer, training, promotion, classification, personal services contracts, leaves of absence (including family leave), health benefits, retirement, payroll, workers’ compensation, work hours, discipline, grievance procedures, and other personnel-related matters.

• Oversee the recruitment and onboarding process by publishing job openings, processing employment applications, conducting recruitment activities, assessing applicant qualifications, communicate hiring decisions to applicants, and coordinate interviews and new employee orientation, including the preparation of necessary documents.
• Prepare and/or supervise requests for personnel and payroll transactions such as appointments, transfers, promotions/demotions, reallocations, resignations, leaves of absences, etc., and ensure transactions are complete, accurate, and compliant with Civil Service laws, rules, regulations, policies, procedures, and bargaining unit agreements.
• Review and approve personnel transactions within HART and coordinate with external agencies such as the Department of Human Resources (DHR), Department of Budget and Fiscal Services (BFS), the Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund (EUTF) and Employees’ Retirement System (ERS).
• Recommend changes to personnel policies and procedures to improve efficiency or compliance with applicable laws and quality assurance requirements.
• Maintain electronic and hard copy personnel records and manage security-related tasks such preparing employee badges and key fobs.
• May supervise subordinates and perform other duties, as required.
• Training and Experience: A combination of education and experience substantially equivalent to graduation from high school and three years public personnel clerical experience.
• Knowledge of: Basic principles and practices of personnel administration, merit system philosophy; civil service laws, rules, and regulations; pertinent provisions of the various collective bargaining contracts; occupations common to government service; personnel transactions and methods of keeping personnel records; office practices and procedures; principles and practices of supervision.
• Ability to: Understand and interpret civil service laws, rules, regulations, policies and procedures, and pertinent provisions of various bargaining unit contracts; lay out work of subordinates; review and evaluate personnel programs and make recommendations for improvement; deal tactfully with employees and the public.

Physical Requirement

Persons seeking appointment to positions in this class must meet the health and physical condition standards deemed necessary and proper for performance of the duties.

• Medical, prescription drug, vision, dental, and life insurance plans
• Generous vacation and sick leave, earning up to 21 days per year
• 13 paid holidays annually (14 days during election year)
• Retirement plan contributions through the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS)
• Deferred compensation options to invest pre-tax income for retirement
• Flexible spending accounts for health and dependent care expenses
• Pre-tax transportation benefits, including TheBus and vanpool options
• Access to confidential counseling services through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Additional perks include training opportunities, parking benefits, and employer-funded Holo Cards for eligible employees to use on public transit
• Eligibility for the public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, supporting employees dedicated to public service

Work Schedule and Location

• Schedule: Monday – Friday, 8-hour shift.
• Location: The work for this position is conducted on-site at the HART offices located in Honolulu, Hawaii 96813. Telecommuting is not currently available for this role.
• Relocation: HART does not cover relocation costs. Candidates must be able to reliably commute or relocate to Honolulu by first day of employment.