Payroll Supervisor

Alliance HRMG has been retained by one of our clients in Santa Maria, CA, a premier cooling and shipping company that markets and distributes high-quality strawberries throughout the United States, to support their search for a Payroll Supervisor.

General Job Description:

They are seeking an experienced, strategic, and highly detail-oriented Payroll Supervisor responsible for managing all aspects of their payroll operations. This is a high-volume, fast-paced, large seasonal workforce. This critical role requires high compliance, expert-level knowledge of federal and state labor laws, with a specific and deep understanding of piece-rate and hourly wage and H2A compliance within the agricultural sector. The Payroll Supervisor will be responsible for overseeing and executing the complete payroll cycle, ensuring accurate and timely compensation, while adhering to complex California and Federal labor laws, managing specialized payroll processes, including varying piece rates, Rest and Recovery, PSL, Overtime, and H-2A. This role will be the primary resource for piece-rate calculations and reporting.

Relationships to others within the Company

• Reports to Human Resource Manager.
• Coordinates with Managers, Supervisors, and other departments such as HR, Accounting, and Cooler.
• Works closely with the Payroll team, Human Resource team, and Supervisors.
• Supervises the Payroll team.

Role and Responsibilities & Duties

The primary responsibilities of this role include, but are not limited to:

Payroll Operations

• Manage multi-crew collection of payroll data for employees engaged in all aspects of farming including planting, weeding, spraying, variable piece rate harvest in strawberries, raspberries, and vegetable harvesting operations.
• Manage the accurate and timely processing of high-volume payroll processing with a primary focus on complex piece-rate, and hourly wages for our agricultural and non-agricultural operations ensuring compliance with the company policy.
• Audit, process, and proof payroll: including employee counts, timekeeping data, production data, meal and rest break compliance, non-productive time, hours worked, earning codes, cost centers, and phases – to ensure accuracy and alignment with that correspond to the correct harvest phase.
• Audit and process employee mileage and cell phone reimbursements.
• Ensure all complex piece rate, break, overtime, double time, show up time, split shift, on call, premium pay, and PSL calculations comply with the appropriate California Wage Order and all relevant state labor codes.
• Responsible for meeting payroll deadlines.
• Oversee timely distribution of accurate daily and weekly harvest/non-harvest reports.
• Process and issue salaries, bonuses, weekly checks, and direct deposits timely.
• Manage Fraud Prevention Practices such as Positive Pay.
• Ensure final paychecks, bonus payments, tax deductions, benefit deductions, garnishments, and tax withholdings are processed accurately and timely.
• Responsible for explaining rest & recovery and overtime premium calculations to employees.
• Resolve payroll discrepancies promptly and maintain logs.
• Serve as the liaison between field supervisors/foremen and the Finance department regarding payroll submission and accuracy.
• Collaborate with the accounting department to reconcile payroll data and general ledger accounts, resolving discrepancies promptly.

H-2A Program Administration

• Manage the beginning-to-end payroll process for H-2A workers, ensuring 100% compliance with Department of Labor (DOL) regulations and the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) for each contract.
• Proof H2A payroll for earning codes, cost centers, and phases.
• Coordinate with the HR and H-2A administration teams for H2A arrival and departure, contract terms, corresponding codes, and deductions for housing and meals, as applicable.
• Process inbound and outbound expenses accurately and timely.

Compliance and Audits

• Maintain up to date expert knowledge of federal and state payroll and agricultural labor regulations, including compliance with AB 1513, IWC Wage Orders, H2A program requirements, payroll tax rules, , reporting time pay, meal and rest breaks requirements, paid sick leave mandates, minimum wage guarantee for piece rate work, insurance eligibility guidelines, and protected leave regulations.
• Ensure that wage statements (pay stubs) are fully compliant with California Labor Code § 226(a) clearly detailing separate entries for piece-rate earnings, non-productive time, rest/recovery pay, and overtime.
• Ensure all payroll, H2A and employee records are audit ready at all times and respond to internal and external audit inquiries.
• Ensure proper classification of exempt vs. non-exempt positions under CA law.
• Maintain employee information and payroll records confidential.
• Manage the Document Retention Policy.
• Prepare and submit W2 and 1095-C.
• Manage state-mandated reporting such as CalSavers, EEO-1, CA Pay Data Reporting.
• Maintain data integrity by performing and documenting internal audits of employee and payroll records to verify accuracy, detect fraud, and ensure confidentiality controls are in place.
• Implement payroll policy updates.

Team Leadership

• Professional and respectful communication with all employees.
• Lead the standardization of processes to improve KPI performance.
• Manage daily workflow and workload distribution.
• Supervise and develop payroll staff.
• Train office and field staff on processes, procedures, data collection software, payroll regulations, and company policy.
• Collaborate with the HR Manager and other departments on organizational and compliance matters.
•  Develop and maintain standard operating procedures for payroll and train staff.

Systems and Processes Optimization

• Manage, optimize, configure, and troubleshoot payroll and timekeeping systems to ensure efficiency and data integrity.
• Ensure accurate set up and maintenance of employee profiles, earning codes, cost centers, phases/jobs, compensation changes, piece rate changes, and terminations.
• Work with IT, Managers, and Supervisors to support implementation of new software.

 Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Mathematics, Business, or related field.
• Minimum of 5 years of complex piece rate payroll experience in agriculture, with at least 2 years of supervisory or leadership role.
• Expert-level knowledge of California Labor Code, IWC Wage Orders, and FLSA as they apply to agricultural workers and piece-rate pay, AB 1513, H2A Program requirements.
• Detail oriented, problem solving, strong analytical and reconciliation skills.
• Requires strong bilingual (English/Spanish) written and verbal communication skills to effectively communicate with the workforce and management
• Ability to prioritize and manage the workflow to meet deadlines.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in (English/Spanish) for effective communication with the workforce and management.
• Proficiency with major payroll systems (Famous and PickTrace) and timekeeping.
• Experience with system configuration, troubleshooting, and process standardization.
• Intermediate data entry and 10 key by touch.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel.

Preferred

• Experience processing payroll for cold storage facilities and vegetable farming.
• Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) or Fundamental Payroll Certification (FPC).