State of Maryland

A Central Payroll Clerk I is the entry level of clerical-accounting payroll work with the Central Payroll Bureau.  Employees in this classification do not supervise other positions.

Employees in this classification receive close supervision from a Central Payroll Supervisor, Revenue Administrator or Fiscal professional.  Employees may be required to work evenings, weekends and holidays based on staffing needs.

Positions in this classification are evaluated using the classification job evaluation methodology.  The use of this method involves comparing the assigned duties and responsibilities of a position to the job criteria found in the Nature of Work and Examples of Work sections of the class specification.

The Central Payroll Clerk I, Central Payroll Clerk II and Central Payroll Clerk III are differentiated on the basis of the degree of supervisory control exercised by the supervisor over these employees.  The Central Payroll Clerk I learns to perform duties under close supervision.  The Central Payroll Clerk II performs duties under close supervision at times and under general supervision at other times depending on the complexity of the specific duty being performed.   The Central Payroll Clerk III performs the full range of duties and responsibilities under general supervision. 

Learns to screen, control and enter payroll records and tax and deduction authorizations electronically;

Learns to audit and control time-payment data submitted by agencies and ensure accuracy and eligibility of entries by applying knowledge of law, regulations and payroll policy and procedures;

Learns to verify output of file maintenance and payroll processing runs to ensure that individual pay records are accurate, and takes corrective actions where necessary;

Learns to communicate with agencies to provide guidance regarding payroll-related problems, corrections, or procedural issues;

Learns to maintain retrievable files of source documents to provide history for audit trail;

May learn to assist in training lower-level fiscal or payroll clerks in required procedures;

Performs other related duties.

Knowledge of the common books of accounts and of the procedures used in keeping financial records and checking financial documents;

Knowledge of bookkeeping principles, methods and procedures including the calculation of percentages; Knowledge of the posting and balancing of ledgers and electronic files;

Knowledge of modern office routines, electronic equipment and machines;

Ability to become familiar with numerous deductions and other earnings, understand the rules under which these deductions and earnings are permitted and their effect on withholding tax computations and on wages;

Ability to make calculations using calculators or computers;

Ability to learn prescribed procedures from oral and written instructions or demonstrations;

Ability to verify computer printouts to controls and to reconcile and correct errors;

Ability to maintain necessary records and electronic data files;

Ability to correct and update payroll input;

Ability to instruct employees;

Ability to determine priority of work;

Ability to examine reports and other statements for accuracy, completeness and conformance with regulations and payroll procedures;

Ability to establish and maintain necessary records and files;

Ability to work independently in a specialized payroll function;

Ability to communicate effectively;

Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with co-workers and outside agency staff;

Ability to use deduction and tax withholding tables to calculate employee’s net wages;

Ability to efficiently use calculators and computers.

Education:   Graduation from an accredited high school or possession of a high school equivalency certificate.

Experience: Three years of experience performing general clerical-accounting work.

Notes:

1. Candidates may substitute additional education at the rate of thirty credit hours for each year of the required experience.

2. Candidates may substitute U.S. Armed Forces military service experience as a non-commissioned officer in financial clerical and technician series classification or financial clerical and technician series specialty codes in the logistics field of work on a year-for-year basis for the required experience.

Class specifications are broad descriptions covering groups of positions used by various State departments and agencies. Position descriptions maintained by the using department or agency specifically address the essential job functions of each position.

This is a Skilled Service classification in the State Personnel Management System.  All positions in this classification are Skilled Service positions.  Some positions in Skilled Service classifications may be designated Special Appointment in accordance with the State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 6-405, Annotated Code of Maryland.

This classification is not assigned to a bargaining unit as indicated by the designation of S (supervisor), M (manager), T (agency head), U (Board or Commission member), W (student), X (Used by agency or excluded by executive order), or Z (confidential).  As provided by State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 3-102, special appointment, temporary, contractual, supervisory, managerial and confidential employees are excluded from collective bargaining.  Additionally, certain executive branch agencies are exempt from collective bargaining and therefore, all positions in those agencies are excluded from collective bargaining.

Employees in this classification are eligible to receive overtime compensation.  An employee who works more than the normal workweek is entitled to be compensated for that overtime as provided by State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 8-305.

This classification is one level in a Non-Competitive Promotion (NCP) series.  NCP promotions are promotions by which employees may advance in grade and class level from trainee to full performance levels in a classification series.  In order to be non-competitively promoted to the next level in a NCP series an employee must: 1) perform the main purpose of the class as defined in the Nature of Work section of the class specification; 2) receive the type of supervision defined in the class specification, and 3) meet the minimum qualifications of the classification.