Payroll Specialist

Novvia is looking for a Payroll Specialist to manage accurate, timely, and compliant payroll for our West Coast workforce, with a strong focus on California employees.

Responsibilities

• Process payroll accurately and on schedule, including weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly payroll cycles.
• Review timekeeping and calculate regular and overtime hours, meal/rest-period premiums, shift differentials, commissions, bonuses, and other earnings.
• Maintain payroll records for new hires, terminations, compensation changes, direct deposits, tax elections, and benefit deductions.
• Process California final pay, vacation payouts, reimbursements, and other separation payments.
• Process commissions and administer garnishments, child support, and other required deductions.
• Partner with HR, Finance, Benefits, Operations, managers, and payroll providers to resolve payroll issues and keep processes running smoothly.
• Respond to employee payroll questions with accuracy, professionalism, and urgency.
• Maintain confidential payroll records and support internal and external audits.
• Identify discrepancies, research root causes, and make accurate corrections.
• Help ensure payroll practices align with federal, California, and local requirements, including wage-and-hour, paid sick leave, wage-statement, recordkeeping, and final-pay requirements.
• Support payroll system testing, implementations, documentation, and process improvement initiatives.

Requirements

• 2+ years of hands-on payroll processing experience, preferably supporting California employees in a multi-site or multi-state environment.
• Working knowledge of payroll practices, payroll taxes, deductions, wage-and-hour concepts, and payroll reconciliation.
• Experience with a payroll/HRIS system.
• Strong Excel skills, including formulas, sorting/filtering, data validation, and reconciliations.
• Exceptional attention to detail, numerical accuracy, organization, and follow-through.
• Ability to manage confidential employee, compensation, tax, and banking information.
• Strong communication skills and a customer-service mindset.

Preferred Qualifications

• Paylocity payroll experience.
• Strong knowledge of California payroll requirements and wage-and-hour guidelines.
• Experience processing payroll across multiple California locations or jurisdictions.
• Familiarity with California wage statements, paid sick leave, leave-related pay, and final-pay requirements.
• Experience with commissions, incentive compensation, complex timekeeping, union payroll, or prevailing wage.
• Payroll accounting and finance/GL reconciliation experience.
• CPP, FPC, or similar payroll certification.

About the Role

If you enjoy being the person who makes sure every detail is right, every deadline is met, and employees get the support they need, this role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact across Novvia's West Coast operations and beyond.