NEAL’S YARD REMEDIES - JOB DESCRIPTION

Human Resource and Payroll Assistant

March 2008

GENERAL NOTE ABOUT JOB DESCRIPTIONS at NYR

The purpose of a job description is to make sure that both the individual and the company are clear about the role, responsibilities and tasks the post-holder is expected to carry out and how the post-holder contributes to the aims and objectives of Neal’s Yard Remedies. However, we operate in a rapidly changing and highly competitive environment, so it is important that job descriptions are flexible, to enable the company to respond quickly to changes and to accommodate the development of the individual.  Job descriptions are reviewed at least once a year as part of the appraisal process.  In addition, they are reviewed prior to recruiting. Job descriptions will be supported by objectives that are specific to the individual and set out the targets, goals and improvements to be achieved in a set time period.

CONTEXT

The Human Resources team at Neal’s Yard Remedies is multi-located across two sites. NYR’s Head Office is in Peacemarsh, Gillingham, Dorset and comprises the Senior HR Advisor. The HR Director and HR Advisor are based in the London Offices. The HR and Payroll Assistant reports to the Senior HR Advisor.

OVERALL JOB PURPOSE

The HR and Payroll Assistant has responsibility for ensuring that Payroll is accurately carried out on a weekly and monthly basis and all HR administration is carried out in a timely and accurate manner. This is a busy and varied role, encompassing all aspects of HR, and where service to our internal (circa 350 employees) and external customers is of key importance. 

KEY RESONSIBILITIES

Timesheets and Payroll Administration

·         First point of contact with our external payroll bureau

·         Responsible for ensuring the external payroll bureau can run our weekly and monthly payroll accurately and on time by:

·         Consolidating timesheet information for relevant departments within the company and supplying accurate timesheet data to the Payroll Bureau on time each week

·         Ensuring all new employees and any changes to employment are inputted and updated on all company timesheets

·         Ensuring any changes to employment terms and conditions are
communicated accurately and in a timely way to the Payroll Bureau

·         To review and update payroll related process and procedures

·         Ensuring payment of bonuses & allowances is communicated to the Payroll Bureau in a timely and accurate manner

·         Gathering information and completing the monthly payroll spreadsheet accurately and on time each month

·         Sending copies of all relevant documents to the payroll bureau

·         Responding to queries from the payroll bureau

·         To deal with and resolve any pay queries from staff or managers

·         Generate information relating to all employees for Company salary review, producing the relevant administration tools and mailing of all communication

·         Liaise with the payroll bureau to ensure that Year End processes are followed correctly.

New Starter Administration

·         Entering new employee details on to the HR database

·         Creating new contracts of employment in the absence of the HR Advisor

·         Administration of Pre-employment checks (medical questionnaires, ID, references etc)

·         Liaising with new starters

·         Creating new personnel files

·         Communicating details of new starters to the relevant people, including information for our internal newsletter

·         Updating the organisational chart

·         Confirming to all employees completion / extension of probationary periods.

Benefits Administration

·         To carry out monthly pension administration, processing and correspondence, and dealing with our external Pension advisors on a  regular basis

·         To maintain accurate records of pension membership and contributions on the relevant spreadsheet/database, ensuring that all employees are captured

·         To carry out periodic processes to do with tax records, issuing tax documents, P60s etc

·         To carry out processes, maintain records and complete mailing in connection with the quarterly Incentive Scheme

·         Generate accurate information for payment in relation to the quarterly Incentive Scheme

·         To gather data, carry out processes and maintain records for the Life Assurance scheme.

EPOS Systems & Software

·         Ensuring that all new employees are correct entered on the EPOS system, granting permissions for users and allocating account numbers

·         Communicating to store management details of all employees EPOS information

·         Ensuring that all leavers are correctly deactivated from the EPOS systems and user id’s and account numbers are disabled

·         To administer allocation to all Retail Employees of monthly Free Product Allocation using our EPOS multi location Cybertill system and software.

Variations of Contracts Administration

·         Issuing correspondence relating to agreed variations to contracts, including pay and annual leave calculations

·         Issuing extension to contracts.

Leavers Administration

·         Monitoring temporary contracts

·         Ensuring that exit interviews are held with all leavers

·         Producing leaving letters in a timely manner

·         Liaise with managers regarding holidays and any outstanding monies

·         Ensure all the relevant information is provided to the payroll bureau and that relevant tax documents are raised and sent out within a timely matter.

Maternity Administration

·         Ensuring that all maternity administration and processes are carried out.

·         Advising employees of maternity rights and legislation

·         Ensuring all maternity letters, along with any relevant documentation is prepared for the individual, including details of maternity pay and leave entitlements.

Customer Service

·         Front line contact for answering the telephone and for courteously welcoming visitors to the department and dealing with any queries

·         Advising staff on HR specifics such as holiday entitlement, pay rewards and ER

·         Dealing speedily and accurately with Line Managers & employee enquires.

·         Providing relevant HR information to managers when requested

·         Responding to requests for references and providing current employees with confirmation of employment requests

·         Working with outside organizations, such as Councils and HMRC.

Absence monitoring

·         Ensuring that all sickness & holiday absence is recorded on a weekly basis and collated for payroll purposes, including highlighting any concerns or issues to the Senior HR Advisor and relevant line manager

·         Monitoring on all sickness, including long term sickness. Liaising with employees that are on long term sickness and updating the payroll bureau with Statutory Sick Pay calculations.

Record keeping & filing (paper & electronic)

·         To maintain accurate, current, comprehensive, secure and neat individual personnel files for all current and ex-staff in line with agreed personnel filing standards

·         General filing

·         Ensuring that the HR database (Personnel Director) is up-to-date and accurate at all times

·         Conducting audits of employee records to identify where information is missing and communicating results to the relevant managers.

Reporting of HR statistical information

·         Regular production & manipulation of accurate HR statistical information e.g. starters, leavers, absence, overtime etc and other ad hoc reports, including running reports from the HR database

·         Weekly reporting to the Accounts department detailing retail Full Time Equivalents.

Other duties

·         To collate the team’s stationery orders

·         To mail out employee correspondence and other communications related to HR

·         Collate information for the weekly and monthly Company newsletters

·         To generate personal profiles of employees for the monthly Company newsletter

·         To assist with tasks and administration related to health & safety, the Employee Forum, internal communication, company induction days, social events, open days & community events and welfare

·         To carry out other HR administration as required

·         To assist with disciplinary and grievance investigation meetings where necessary.

Continuous Improvement and Self Development

·         To seek ways of improving how your own job is carried out, and look for opportunities to do things more effectively.  This includes learning from mistakes

·         To make suggestions to your manager or supervisor about improvements that will affect other people or departments

·         To find out more about possible solutions to problems you face in doing your job.

·         To help other people and departments improve their performance

·         To develop your own skills and improve your own performance through seeking opportunities to learn.

Health & Safety

·         To take reasonable care for your own health and safety and of other people affected by your actions

·         To comply with NYR’s Health and Safety procedures e.g. first aid, fire, COSHH, manual handling, etc

·         To report health and safety risks and hazards to your manager, supervisor or local Health & Safety Representative

·         To cooperate with your manager, supervisor or local Health & Safety Representative when risk assessments are being conducted and to implement any changes made as a result of risk assessments.

SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS

The HR & Payroll Assistant has access to personal information on all staff in the company, so must operate with utter discretion and keep all information confidential and, where appropriate, secure and complying with the Data Protection Act.

The post-holder is based at NYR’s head office and factory at Peacemarsh, Gillingham, Dorset, where the majority of the time will be spent.

NEAL’S YARD REMEDIES – PERSON SPECIFICATION

Human Resource & Payroll Assistant

Essential Experience, Skills & Qualities

• Flexible, positive, can-do attitude
• Outstanding customer service skills
• At least two years’ experience in an administrative role in a busy office, dealing with high volumes of correspondence
• Experience of working in an HR environment
• Superb administration skills: well-organised, attention to detail, focused on completing tasks, tidy and not afraid of filing!
• Ability to organise own workload, setting up own systems and processes as necessary
• Excellent numeracy skills, especially in relation to HR calculations
• Excellent IT skills, especially MS Office – Word, Outlook and Excel
• Experience of using and maintaining a large-scale database - such as a personnel or client management database - for data entry, enquiries and reporting
• Logical and systematic approach to tasks
• Friendly, courteous, professional telephone manner.
• Displays confidentiality and diplomacy