Payroll and Benefits Administrator

Jenoptik is an international photonics group with representatives in over 80 countries. Optical technologies are the foundation of our business. We employ around 4,000 people worldwide.

SUMMARY:

The Payroll and Benefit Specialist is responsible for administration of payroll and benefits for North America (United States, Canada and Mexico). This role maintains the Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) for payroll, benefits and employment data.

RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE (BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO):

Payroll Administration

• Process accurate and timely payroll for all hourly and salaried employees across North America.
• Compile and maintain payroll data in the HRIS, including employee time records, earnings, deductions, bonus payments, new hires, terminations, compensation changes, direct deposits, tax elections, and garnishments.
• Establish all statutory tax jurisdictions with ADP to ensure payroll compliance with federal, state/provincial, and local tax tables.
• Balance payroll accounts by auditing data, resolving discrepancies, initiating journal entries, and partnering with the internal accounting team to provide required reporting.
• Maintain accurate Paid Time Off (PTO) accrual data for the US and Canada.
• Monitor and instruct payroll service partners to ensure processing aligns with contract terms (e.g., managing wage garnishments, documenting withholdings, and coordinating with collection agencies).
• Serve as the point of contact for employee payroll inquiries while maintaining strict data confidentiality.
• Execute year-end and quarterly activities, including W-2 processing, reconciliation, and 401(k) employee savings plan audits.
• Completes payroll reporting and partners with internal accounting to provide needed payroll data.
• Maintain organized payroll records in compliance with company retention policies.
  
  

Benefits

• Administer and maintain the employee benefit offering including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability, retirement plans, and other voluntary benefits.
• Maintain records by developing recordkeeping systems; initiating new-hire benefits; recording changes, terminations and COBRA requests.
• Coordinate new-hire benefits onboarding, annual open enrollment, qualifying life events, and ongoing benefits communication.
• Manage benefit continuation and leave-related administration, including COBRA requests and status changes.
• Support retirement plan contributions, testing, required compliance reporting, and audits.
• Act as the primary point of contact to resolve employee questions or concerns regarding benefits and enrollments.
• Maintains benefit records and prepares online documentation to implement benefit coverage
• Retrieve and reconcile monthly benefit invoices and resolve enrollment or billing discrepancies with carriers and vendors, then prepares for payment in cooperation with Accounting team.
  
  

Administrative

• Generate, update, and maintain physical and digital employee files, working closely with the global HRIS team to ensure data integrity.
• Track and maintain monthly HR Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and prepare standard or ad hoc reports on employee data.
• Works closely with the global HRIS team to administer and maintain employee information for HRIS
• Knowledgeable and supportive of all HR policies and procedures and brings any nonconformance issues to the attention of management
• Stay current on federal, state/provincial, and local legal requirements to ensure organizational compliance, anticipating new legislation and advising management on necessary actions.
• Prepares a variety of standard and ad hoc reports on employee data in HRIS
• Demonstrate continuous effort to improve HR operations, streamline work processes, and assist with special projects or other duties as assigned.
• Assist with special projects
• Performs all other duties as assigned
  
  

REQUIREMENTS:

• High School Diploma or GED
• 3-5 years payroll processing experience using ADP/Workforce Now
• Intermediate to advanced Microsoft Excel knowledge
• Adobe Acrobat PDF Writer knowledge
• US Citizen or qualified U.S. worker.