Civilian Pay Technicians (CPT)s perform work in direct support of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), under the Finance Service. CPTs report directly to the Payroll Supervisor and work closely with: Human Resources (HR); VAMC union partner(s); accounting; budget; timekeepers; approving officials and employees on all matters relating to payroll.

Duties

Duties include but are not limited to: Serve as facility technical payroll expert to VAMC staff and provide data, reports, guidance, and resolution to payroll issues across the VAMC. Independently research, resolve and respond to routine and occasional non-routine verbal and written pay and leave inquiries from employees, supervisors, Financial Service Center (FSC), HR, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) and VA Central Office (VACO) staff. Determine proper application of pay and leave regulations, laws, rules and agency policies, guidelines, coding, etc. for each separate pay plan involved and appropriate leave system impacted. Interpret and apply regulations and policies regarding appointment entitlements, leave earnings, charges of leave, leave w/o pay, advance sick leave and compensatory time. Interpret impact of current, new and updated regulations and polices to ensure proper timekeeping and accurate pay. Use knowledge of varying premium pay and benefit entitlements for employee specific pay plans when implementing tours of duty regulations and/or policies to include 24-hour coverage, irregular, compressed and/or flex tours, etc. Independently apply payroll knowledge to timecard postings and payment for leave and premium pay entitlements. Perform full range of payroll actions under multiple automated systems for employees appointed under different personnel systems with each having unique pay accounts and governing regulations/policies relating to the Federal Wage System, (FWS) General Schedule (GS) title 5 including special salary rates, title 38, title 38 hybrids, law enforcement and firefighter pay, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), title 38 overtime, irregular tours of duty, etc. Serve as a liaison with Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) as it relates to processing timecards, pay and leave adjustments and occasional troubleshooting of complex pay issues. Make changes to timecard postings or changes in HR Smart (i.e., system discrepancies between Defense Civilian Payroll System (DCPS), HR Smart and time and attendance system based on DFAS feedback). Resolve system discrepancies which may result in initiating the employee debt process or back pay. Update employees' master payroll records to reflect all changes authorized by personnel documents including, but not limited to: savings and thrift loan repayment allotments; transferring employees; federal and state taxes; address changes; adjustments for reemployed annuitants; uniform allowances; parking deductions; union dues; leave donations, etc. Review and work unique payroll actions, questions or situations which impact: pay; leave; entitlements; taxes; benefits; other deductions and master pay record information for all employees in the group during the pay cycle. Conduct comprehensive pay transaction reviews which include determinations such as allowances, recruitment and retention incentives, debt collections, etc. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Civilian Pay Technician/PD99375S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/16/2024. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS 6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS 5. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. To qualify for this position at the GS-06 grade level, you must meet the following: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: At least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-5) in Federal service that has equipped me with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Specialized experience includes performing payroll and/or timekeeping duties such as extracting and entering data; reviewing payroll records/ documents and making computations; reviewing and researching pay and leave issues; answering pay questions and explaining payroll requirements; preparing reports, memoranda and other correspondence using various computer software applications. Your resume must document your experience. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Computer SkillsCustomer ServiceEmployee BenefitsInformation Management Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: sedentary work. There may be some walking, standing, bending, and lifting up to 25 pounds. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Contacts

• Address Northport VA Medical Center 79 Middleville Road Building 200 Northport, NY 11768 US
• Name: Jessica McCann
• Phone: 315-425-4400
• Email: [email protected]