Payroll Specialist

We are looking for a Payroll Specialist to provide dependable payroll and administrative support for a growing restaurant organization in South Elgin, Illinois. This Part-time Long-term Contract position is ideal for someone who can manage multi-state payroll activities with precision while balancing related onboarding and office support tasks. The role will help maintain timely, accurate pay practices across several payroll groups and contribute to a smooth employee experience in a fast-moving environment.

Responsibilities:

• Oversee recurring payroll processing for multiple pay groups and legal entities, ensuring employees are paid correctly and on schedule.

• Review payroll data across several states to verify compliance, identify discrepancies, and resolve issues before final submission.

• Investigate and correct payment exceptions such as returned transactions, direct deposit problems, and payroll adjustments.

• Conduct routine audits, reconcile payroll records, and implement corrections when timekeeping or pay data is inaccurate.

• Prepare, import, and upload payroll files into the payroll platform while maintaining organized supporting documentation.

• Coordinate tip distribution details and validate daily punch information received from operations teams for accurate payroll calculations.

• Support new employee setup by entering payroll-related employee information and assisting with onboarding administration.

• Provide additional administrative assistance through tasks such as recruiting support, document management, check handling, and mail distribution.

• Partner with field and operations teams to confirm timekeeping accuracy and gather information needed to complete each payroll cycle.

• Proven experience administering full-cycle payroll in a multi-state environment.
• Background processing payroll for multiple entities, locations, or employee groups with a high degree of accuracy.
• Ability to troubleshoot payroll errors, complete corrections, and resolve payment-related issues efficiently.
• Hands-on experience with payroll systems and file import or upload processes; familiarity with ADP Workforce Now is beneficial.
• Strong attention to detail with the ability to manage sensitive information confidentially and accurately.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced setting with changing priorities and a mix of payroll and administrative duties.
• Experience supporting payroll volumes of 500 or more employees is preferred.