Senior Payroll Officer (XN05)

Main Duties of the Job

• Assist the Payroll Section Manager in ensuring the production of high-quality payroll output which meets the requirements of the organisation and is in line with agreed timescales.
• Assist the Payroll Section Manager in all aspects of running their team and take responsibility for others within the team.
• Prioritise, plan and organise own work and work of trainees within the section to meet strict deadlines for payroll completion, pensions administration and statutory requirements.
• Organise and be responsible for delivering core training in the specialism of payroll to new members of the team and assist in the re training of payroll staff whenever changes to systems or regulations are introduced.
• Have detailed knowledge of the NHS Pension scheme, regulations and administrative procedures.
• Communicate orally, in writing and face to face with the next of kin of deceased employees and terminally ill employees.
• Make accurate payments of salaries and wages to employees in accordance with Local and National conditions.
• Maintain accurate records of pay, income tax, national insurance, Statutory Sick Pay, Statutory Maternity Pay, Occupational Maternity Pay, Occupational Sick Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay and Working Family Tax Credits.

About Us

The teams cover 10 separate clients providing a payroll and pensions service to the following organisations:

• Leeds Teaching Hospitals
• Leeds & York Partnerships NHS Foundation Trust
• The Yorkshire Deanery (Registrars) which is linked to Leeds University
• Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust
• Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

The Payroll Department is responsible for processing payments in excess of £55,000 per month.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals is committed to our process of redeploying 'at risk' members of our existing workforce to new roles. All job adverts are subject to this policy and we reserve the right to close, delay or remove adverts while this process is completed.

Job Responsibilities

• a) Assist the Payroll Section Manager in ensuring the production of high quality payroll output which meets the requirements of the organisation and is in line with agreed timescales.
• b) Meet departmental heads as and when required to undertake a general review of any payroll issues associated with their area, raising any queries and highlighting where procedures are not being adhered to which could result in incorrect payments being made.
• c) Make accurate payments of salaries and wages to employees in accordance with Local and National conditions.
• d) Maintain accurate records of pay, income tax, national insurance, Statutory Sick Pay, Statutory Maternity Pay, Occupational Maternity Pay, Occupational Sick Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay and Working Family Tax Credits.
• e) Maintain employees' personal records including permanent grade/hours changes and ensure all sickness/absence records are maintained to the standards required.
• f) Perform tasks which need to be coordinated by one individual, on behalf of the payroll team, such as checking manual calculations of gross to net pay undertaken by other members of staff.
• g) Deal with enquiries connected with employees' pay - verbal, electronic and written - and provide advice to employees, departmental heads, colleagues within the pay office and external agencies.
• h) Assist the Payroll Section Manager in all aspects of running their team and take responsibility for others within the team.
• i) Check permanent changes to employee records input by other team members and check entries made to payroll records which affect the operation of the pension scheme.
• j) Organise and be responsible for delivering core training in the specialism of payroll to new members of the team and assist in the re training of payroll staff whenever changes to systems or regulations are introduced.
• k) Undertake calculations of complex payments of removal expenses and identify where a taxable benefit arises, providing a detailed explanation of all the payments made including an interpretation of the relevant sections of the removal policy.
• l) Interpret and implement pay awards in conjunction with the Payroll Section Manager.
• m) Act as authorised signatory for NHS Pensions Scheme communications.
• n) Act as authorised signatory for Removal Expenses.
• o) Responsible for the calculation of overpayments and reporting on these to ensure the Trust recovers any lost monies.
• p) Involved in the initial stages of appraisal within the section, in conjunction with the Payroll Section Manager.
• q) Regularly create and use spreadsheets to assist working practices.
• r) Responsible for information input into Electronic Staff Record, which is then used to provide budgetary information for Trust managers, statutory returns to the Department of Health and statutory returns to Inland Revenue.
• s) Complete annual returns to the Government Statistical Department relating to employee wages, collective agreements and client numbers and weekly and monthly payments.
• t) Undertake monthly and weekly audits of trainees in relation to Electronic Staff Record input and payroll output to check for accuracy or payments and to prevent fraud.
• u) Prioritise, plan and organise own work and work of trainees within the section to meet strict deadlines for payroll completion, pensions administration and statutory requirements.
• v) Answer queries, both complex and simple, from Managers, Human Resources Officers and employees relating to Terms and Conditions of Service, Statutory Payments (Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Sick Pay, Inland Revenue Regulations, NHS Pension Scheme), involving face to face, telephone, written and electronic media.
• w) Frequently expose and involve with angry, irate, or distressed employees and relatives of employees, requiring tact, empathy, patience, and calming techniques.
• x) Frequently answer complex queries from, and give advice to, employees where English is not their first language.
• y) Frequently handle escalated queries from irate employees where payroll officers/assistants have been unable to resolve the problem, including reasons for delaying payments and other sensitive issues which can be contentious.
• z) Act in an advisory capacity to managers and clients in the absence of the Section Manager.
• aa) Occasionally expose to terminally ill employees to give assistance and help on most beneficial options.
• bb) Occasionally required to act as an appointment panel member.
• cc) Responsible for processing and authorised signatory for cheques and cash payments more than £5,000 per month.
• dd) Frequently require prolonged concentration, controlling payrolls, checking, and reconciling information, inputting data, making calculations.
• ee) Maintain client confidentiality in accordance with the Data Protection Act.
• ff) Any other duties as appropriate.

Person Specification Qualifications

• IPPM Degree in Pensions/Payroll Management or significant equivalent experience
• NVQ level 3 Bereavement Awareness or equivalent experience
• European Computer Driving Licence or equivalent experience
• Evidence of Managerial/HR short courses / Qualifications IT
• Qualifications/evidence of short courses in Microsoft Office
• applications
• Staff recruitment

Skills & Behaviours

• Highly detailed and specialist knowledge of NHS Terms and Conditions of Service
• Capacity to absorb and understand ever changing conditions of service and statutory requirements as above, which occurs at least on an annual basis
• Ability to give complex, detailed advice and information to Managers and Human Resources outside of Payroll, on Pensions and Payroll related matters.
• Ability to organise/plan own work and that of trainees ensuring that tasks are performed in accordance with departmental deadlines, managing a range of priorities

Experience

• Experience of working within an NHS payroll/pensions environment for a substantial period of time. The post holder must demonstrate the ability to deal with all aspects of work associated with NHS Payroll.
• Highly detailed knowledge of Electronic Staff Record System.
• Detailed knowledge and understanding of complex Statutory requirements for PAYE, Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Sick Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Student Loan.
• Regularly create and analyse complex reports generated from Electronic Staff Record, for use within the Payroll Office, for example, electronic time sheets, batch summary reports, sick reports, etc.