Human Resources Operations Associate - Benefits and Time & Attendance

POSITION TITLE: Human Resources Operations Associate – Benefits and Time & Attendance

Office of Human Resources

Non-Unit/Confidential Classified

General Statement of Duties and Responsibilities:

The Human Resources Operations Associate – Benefits and Time & Attendance provides administrative, operational, and customer service support to the Office of Human Resources, with primary support assigned to the Benefits and Time & Attendance functions. This position assists with high-volume, deadline-driven HR processes including benefits enrollment and changes, leave administration, workers’ compensation, retirement processing, timekeeping transactions, payroll-related HR data, employee records, and employee inquiries.

The incumbent must be able to shift priorities quickly between Benefits and Time & Attendance based on payroll deadlines, open enrollment, leave activity, onboarding, separations, retirements, and other operational needs. The position requires access to confidential employee information, including personnel, medical, leave, benefits, retirement, payroll, and time and attendance records. Exceptionally high degrees of confidentiality, discretion, accuracy, sound judgment, and customer service are required. As such, the incumbent is a confidential employee as defined in M.G.L. Chapter 150E, Section 1.

This is a full-time on-campus position, Monday through Friday, 7.5 hours per day. This position is not eligible for remote or hybrid work. Regular, predictable, and reliable on-campus attendance is an essential function due to the employee-facing nature of the role, office coverage needs, confidential records management, and time-sensitive payroll, benefits, and leave deadlines.

Supervision Received:

The Human Resources Associate reports to the Human Resources Assistant Director.

Examples of Duties (Essential Functions):

• Assists with leave administration, including FMLA, PFML, sick leave banks, workers’ compensation, medical leave, personal leave, leave documentation, correspondence, tracking, and return-to-work/payroll status updates.
• Assists with FMLA and PFML time entry, leave usage tracking, leave-related reporting, and timekeeping questions related to approved leaves.
• Acts as primary point of contact for the University’s Leave Administration partner.
• Provides administrative, operational, and customer service support to the Benefits and Time & Attendance functions within the Office of Human Resources.
• Provides operational support for the Time and Attendance function to help ensure the timely and accurate payment of faculty, staff, and student employees.
• Responds to routine benefits, leave, timekeeping, and HR-related inquiries from employees, supervisors, managers, retirees, students, and other members of the campus community.
• Provides operational support for the Time and Attendance function to help ensure the timely and accurate payment of faculty, staff, and student employees.
• Assists with Time and Attendance transactions, including late-pay processing, correction form entry, schedule changes, balance adjustments, timekeeping corrections, and other payroll and timekeeping related forms.
• Supports faculty time-reporting processes by assisting employees and supervisors with time-entry questions, procedures, reporting requirements, and issue resolution.
• Supports payroll-readiness and “hard day” activities, including clearing Time and Attendance exceptions, reviewing and reconciling Prior Period Adjustment (PPA) reports, conducting necessary follow-up, and assisting with other time-sensitive payroll deadlines.
• Assists with post-payroll reporting and follow-up communications, including pending time-approval notifications, time-approver permission reports, and related reminders to employees, supervisors, managers, and time approvers.
• Reviews HR and Time and Attendance data for completeness, accuracy, and compliance; identifies discrepancies and works collaboratively to resolve issues before payroll processing.
• Runs, compiles, and reviews Time and Attendance reports and queries; follows up on missing entries, incomplete approvals, discrepancies, and other payroll or timekeeping issues.
• Assists with Public Safety and police time-entry processes as trained and provides backup support during emergencies or other urgent coverage situations.
• Assists with HRDirect, Summit, payroll/timekeeping systems, benefits systems, reporting tools, system testing, data review, and quality control.
• Assists with benefits administration, including benefits enrollment and changes, form intake, documentation review, tracking, and follow-up.
• Identifies opportunities to improve HR processes, documentation, and operational workflows to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and customer service.
• Assists in developing and maintaining standard operating procedures, training materials, job aids, and workflow documentation to support operational continuity and cross-training.
• Assists with retirement-related processes, including retirement packets, forms, documentation tracking, employee inquiries, and coordination with appropriate internal and external offices.
• Processes and tracks notices of injury/accident reports, workers’ compensation documentation, claim materials, medical bills, and related records and follow-up.
• Maintains confidential benefits, leave, workers’ compensation, retirement, medical, payroll, time and attendance, personnel, and other Human Resources records.
• Prepares, scans, files, uploads, organizes, and maintains correspondence, forms, reports, spreadsheets, checklists, standard operating procedures, job aids, templates, and workflow documentation
• Participates in projects as needed
• Provides front office coverage, and walk-in support as needed.  This includes assisting with student employee T&L questions and routing employee matters to the appropriate HR staff member.
• Maintains regular and predictable on-campus attendance. This position is fully on-site and is not eligible for remote or hybrid work.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Three years of full-time or equivalent part-time experience in Human Resources, time administration, benefits administration, or related field.
• Previous experience with HRIS systems.
• Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing.
• Ability to work independently, take initiative and exercise sound judgment.
• Ability to exercise discretion in handling confidential matters.
• Ability to deal with sensitive employee issues in a professional manner.
• Ability to multi-task and manage competing deadlines skillfully.
• Working knowledge of general office procedures.
• Ability to perform mathematical calculations using formulas.
• Ability to follow oral and written instructions.
• Ability to gather information by examining records and documents and through questioning individuals.
• Ability to maintain accurate records.
• Ability to deal tactfully with others.
• Ability to establish and maintain harmonious working relationships with others.
• Ability to exercise initiative and motivation.
• Ability to work collaboratively and cohesively in a team setting.
• Ability to deliver a high level of customer service with timely and accurate responses.
• Ability to meet critical deadlines.
• Ability to understand, interpret and explain complex documents such as policy and procedure manuals, federal and state laws, collective bargaining agreements, etc.
• Ability to effectively manage multiple competing priorities while processing a high volume of work with exceptional accuracy, attention to detail and sound judgment, in a fast-paced environment with frequent interruptions.
• Excellent attention to detail and ability to audit written materials and the work of others.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel, Word, and Outlook, and the ability to learn and effectively utilize HRIS, payroll, timekeeping, benefits administration, and document management systems.
• Ability to communicate professionally and effectively with employees, retirees, managers, and external partners while providing exceptional customer service in sensitive and confidential situations.
• Working knowledge of applicable federal and state employment laws, benefit programs, payroll regulations, and University policies, or the ability to acquire such knowledge within a reasonable period.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze information, identify discrepancies, and recommend practical solutions to operational issues.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience administering employee benefits, leave programs, payroll, or timekeeping in a complex organization.
• Experience using PeopleSoft HR, or comparable enterprise HRIS/payroll systems.
• Experience interpreting collective bargaining agreements, HR policies, or employment regulations.
• Experience in higher education, public sector, or unionized environments.
• PHR or SPHR certificate.

Environmental Demands:

• Work generally performed in an office.
• Frequent work performed with other people.
• Frequent interactions with staff, managers, and applicants.

Mental Requirements:

• Must be able to communicate in English (speaking, writing and reading) at a level to effectively perform the essential functions of position of the Human Resources Associate position.
• Frequent work at a rapid pace.
• Capable of managing a high volume of work.
• Ability to interact appropriately with the campus community who are experiencing serious medical conditions, workplace injuries, bereavement, or other difficult life events with empathy, professionalism, emotional resilience, sound judgment, and respect for confidentiality.

Physical Requirements:

                                                Physical Activity                               Frequency

                                                Sitting                                                 Frequent

                                                Walking                                              Occasional

SALARY: $63,755.12 - $73,868.86

UMass Dartmouth offers exciting benefits such as:

• 75% Employer-Paid Health Insurance
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Life Insurance
• Long Term Disability
• State Pension Retirement Plan
• Optional Retirement Savings Plans
• Tuition Credit (Employee, Spouse, & Dependents)
• Twelve (12) paid holidays
• Paid personal, vacation, and sick time
• And More!

Benefits for Non-Unit Classified: Non-Unit Classified

Applicants must be authorized for permanent employment in the United States. Employment-based visa sponsorship is not available.   

To apply, please submit a letter of interest, a current resume, and the contact information for three professional references.

The review of applications will be immediate and ongoing until the position is filled.