Multistate Payroll Administrator

Key Responsibilities

• Process payroll accurately and on schedule for employees across multiple states, including regular and off-cycle payrolls.
• Review timesheets, earnings, deductions, garnishments, bonuses, commissions, and benefit withholdings for accuracy and compliance.
• Maintain employee payroll records for new hires, terminations, transfers, status changes, and compensation updates across multiple jurisdictions.
• Audit employee setup to ensure correct state and local tax withholding based on residence, work location, and reciprocal tax requirements where applicable.
• Investigate pay issues to determine root cause and suggest potential corrections.
• Support payroll tax registrations, unemployment rate updates, agency notices, reconciliations, and year-end payroll reporting.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local wage and hour laws, payroll tax requirements, pay frequency rules, and recordkeeping standards.
• Prepare payroll reports, registers, and audit documentation for internal stakeholders and external agencies as needed.
• Compile and submit compiled reports; e.g., California Pay Data, EEO-1, Affirmative Action plans, etc.
• Train site HR personnel on how to manage time and attendance and proper employee recordkeeping in the HRIS.
• Track payroll errors and regularly report metrics.
• Partner with HR, Finance, benefits administrators, and payroll vendors to resolve issues and improve payroll accuracy and efficiency.
• Monitor changes in payroll laws and tax regulations across applicable states and recommend process or system updates as needed.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of payroll experience, including hands-on experience processing multi-state payroll required.
• Working knowledge of payroll systems, HRIS platforms, and Microsoft Excel.
• Strong understanding of federal, state, and local payroll tax requirements, wage and hour laws, and reporting obligations.
• Experience reviewing tax withholding, local tax setup, unemployment rates, garnishments, and year-end payroll processes.
• Strong attention to detail, organization, analytical thinking, and confidentiality.
• Ability to manage deadlines, interpret regulatory requirements, and communicate effectively with employees and cross-functional partners.

Preferred Skills

• Experience processing payroll in a multi-state environment with complex tax and labor law requirements.
• Familiarity with reciprocal tax agreements, employee location tracking, and jurisdiction-based payroll setup.
• Knowledge of payroll audits, quarterly and annual tax filings, reconciliations, and agency notice resolution.
• Experience with payroll platforms such as UKG, ADP, Workday, Paycom, or similar systems.
• Ability to identify process improvement opportunities in multi-state payroll operations.
• Professional certification such as CPP or FPC is a plus.