Job Description

Job Location: Office of Gilmer County Commissioners - Ellijay, GA 30540
Position Type: Full TimeEducation
Level: High School/GED
Salary Range: $22.16 - $24.03 Hourly

Job Shift: Day Shift
Job Category: Human ResourcesGeneral Nature of Work
The Total Rewards Specialist is responsible for administering and supporting the County’s compensation, benefits, payroll, retirement, and employee wellness programs. This position ensures compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws, policies, and regulations while providing exceptional service and support to County employees regarding all total rewards programs. The Total Rewards Specialist also assists with compensation analysis, retirement administration, benefits administration, payroll and HRIS maintenance to support the County’s strategic goals, and workforce retention initiatives.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
Compensation Administration
- Assists in the administration of the County’s compensation programs, including salary studies, pay classifications, and market analysis.
- Supports compensation reviews, salary adjustments, position classification, and pay equity initiatives.
- Maintains compensation records and ensures compliance with County policies and applicable laws and regulations.
- Assists and coordinates with CHRO on County-wide Comprehensive Compensation plan.
- Prepares compensation-related reports, recommendations, and workforce data for CHRO & County leadership.
Benefits Administration
- Administers employee benefits programs including health, dental, vision, life insurance, disability, and voluntary benefit plans.
- Coordinates annual open enrollment and employee benefit communication efforts.
- Serves as a resource for employees regarding benefits eligibility, enrollment, claims, and program information.
- Works collaboratively with benefit vendors, brokers, and third-party administrators to resolve issues and improve services.
- Assists with employee wellness initiatives & benefits fairs.
Retirement Administration
- Coordinates retirement programs including the 401(a), and 457(b) retirement plans.
- Assists employees with retirement processes.
- Processes retirement-related documentation and coordinates with retirement system representatives and vendors such as VOYA and Edward Jones.
- Maintains accurate retirement records within system and for personnel and ensures timely reporting and compliance with applicable regulations.
HR Operations & Compliance
- Maintains HRIS records and data related to compensation, benefits, and retirement programs.
- Ensures compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws, County policies, and applicable regulations.
- Assists with audits, reporting requirements, and documentation related to compensation and benefits administration.
- Supports the development and implementation of HR policies and procedures related to total rewards programs.
- Prepares reports, presentations, and workforce metrics for CHRO & County leadership, elected officials, and governing authorities as needed.
Payroll Administration
- Assists with the administration and processing of the County’s payroll operations to ensure accuracy and compliance with applicable laws, policies, and procedures.
- Reviews payroll records, timesheets, leave balances, deductions, and personnel action forms for accuracy and completeness.
- Coordinates with Finance and department leadership regarding payroll changes, benefit deductions, compensation adjustments, and employee status updates.
- Assists employees with payroll-related questions including deductions, leave balances, direct deposit, and benefit withholdings.
- Supports payroll audits, reporting requirements, and year-end processing activities.
- Maintains confidentiality and accuracy of payroll and employee compensation records.
Leave Administration
- Administers employee leave programs including Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), military leave, and other applicable leave policies in accordance with County policy and federal/state regulations.
- Reviews leave requests, tracks leave usage, and ensures accurate documentation and compliance with applicable laws and policies.
- Communicates with employees and supervisors regarding leave eligibility, required documentation, return-to-work procedures, and available resources.
- Coordinates with supervisors, and third-party administrators regarding leave administration and employee status updates while updating payroll transactions.
Workers’ Compensation Administration
- Coordinates the County’s workers’ compensation program and serves as a liaison between employees, supervisors, medical providers, and insurance carriers.
- Assists employees and departments with reporting workplace injuries and completing required workers’ compensation documentation.
- Monitors workers’ compensation claims and maintains communication with claims adjusters and third-party administrators to ensure timely resolution.
- Supports return-to-work and transitional duty efforts in coordination with department leadership.
- Assists with workplace safety initiatives alongside Risk Management, accident reporting, and compliance with applicable regulations and County policies.
- Maintains workers’ compensation records and prepares reports related to claims, trends, and program activity to HR Manager, Risk Director, and CHRO.
Employee Support & Engagement
- Provides exceptional customer service and maintains confidentiality regarding employee information and records.
- Educates employees on available compensation, benefits, retirement, and wellness programs.
- Supports County recruitment and retention initiatives by promoting competitive total rewards offerings.
- Serves as a liaison between employees, County leadership, and external vendors regarding total rewards matters.
Additional related duties as assigned.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, and ABILITIES
Data Utilization: Requires the ability to coordinate, manage, and/or correlate data. Includes exercising judgment in determining time, place and/or sequence of operations, referencing data analyses to determine necessity for revision of organizational components, and in the formulation of operational strategy.
Human Interaction: Requires the ability to function in a managerial capacity for a division or organizational unit.  Includes the ability to make decisions on procedural and technical levels.  Includes significant internal and external interaction.
Equipment, Machinery, Tools, and Materials Utilization: Requires the ability to operate, maneuver and/or control the actions of equipment, machinery, tools, and/or materials used in performing essential functions.
Verbal Aptitude: Requires the ability to utilize a wide variety of reference, descriptive, advisory and/or design data and information.
Mathematical Aptitude: Requires the ability to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; ability to calculate decimals and percentages; may include ability to perform mathematical operations with fractions; may include ability to compute discount, interest, and ratios; may include ability to calculate surface areas, volumes, weights, and measures.
Functional Reasoning: Requires the ability to apply principles of influence systems, such as motivation, incentive, and leadership, and to exercise independent judgment to apply facts and principles for developing approaches and techniques to resolve problems.
Situational Reasoning: Requires the ability to exercise judgment, decisiveness and creativity in situations involving the evaluation of information against sensory, judgmental, or subjective criteria, as opposed to that which is clearly measurable or verifiable.

QualificationsMINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- High School Diploma or GED required. Bachelor’s degree in human resources, business administration, public administration or related field preferred.
- Two (2) to Three (3) year(s) of progressively responsible experience in human resources, benefits administration, or compensation preferred.
- May require specialized certifications and/or training as deemed necessary.
- A combination of education & experience may be supplemented and evaluated for the pre-requisite of this position.
ADA Requirements: Individuals applying for the posted position must be able to perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.
Physical Requirements: Tasks require the ability to exert light physical effort in sedentary to light work, but which may involve some lifting, carrying, pushing and/or pulling of objects and materials of light weight (5-10 pounds). Tasks may involve extended periods of time at a keyboard or workstation.

Work Environment: Essential functions are regularly performed without exposure to adverse environmental conditions.