Upon adoption of 2019-2020 budget, the Human Resource function was restructured to report directly to the City Manager rather than the ACM/CFO. This resulted in the realignment of one Sr. Human Resources Technician assigned to support Payroll to be moved from Finance to Human Resources and a subsequent reclassification to an HR Analyst. This realignment and reclassification ensured that the HR Department could function at full capacity and deliver an exceptional level of service to the employees that serve the community.
To supplement the payroll workload remaining in Finance, an Accountant I was assigned to assist with payroll (which was previously supported by the Sr. HR Technician). Unfortunately, after several months of this organizational structure, it was determined that this classification is not appropriate for the type of work needed.
The Payroll Administrator is considered a confidential position (whereas the Accountant I was not) and therefore will be able to provide a great depth of support to the payroll function as it relates to upcoming labor negotiations.
Additionally, the Payroll Administrator will serve as a back-up to the Senior Payroll Administrator ensuring proper redundancy for emergencies or unforeseen circumstances.
Finance and Human Resources worked together to review the payroll functions and structure. Both departments concur and propose reallocating the Accountant I position to a Payroll Administrator in order to foster efficient and accurate processing of payroll, training/cross-training, policy implementation and interpretation, and necessary redundancy within the payroll function. This position will play a crucial role in ensuring employees are paid accurately and timely and maintaining strict compliance with all applicable laws.
The compensation for the Payroll Administrator is set at Range 24 per the confidential salary schedule. This may result in a salary savings as the Accountant I position salary is set at Range 28. While this is not the primary motivation for the change, this potential savings is extremely valuable to the City during this difficult and uncertain economy caused by COVID-19.