Description:
Position Summary
The Payroll and Leave Administration Analyst is a member of the People and Culture team responsible for administering timely and accurate payroll for 200+ union and non-union employees, and for leading and managing all employee leave administration, including Short-Term Disability (STD), Long-Term Disability (LTD), Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML), FMLA, and Workers' Compensation. This role also assists with benefits administration, compliance-related reporting and auditing, and supports the People and Culture team with document management, including scanning paper files and uploading and organizing files in SharePoint and Learn Your Benefits.
About the Minnesota Orchestra:
The Minnesota Orchestra is a Grammy Award-winning orchestra known for acclaimed performances in Minnesota and around the world, a storied history of recordings and radio broadcasts, innovative educational engagement programs and a commitment to new orchestral music. Founded by Emil Oberhoffer in 1903 as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, the organization was the eighth major orchestra established in the United States. In 1911, it began a series of children's concerts under the sponsorship of the Young People's Symphony Concert Association (YPSCA), which continues to this day. Early in the 1920s, the orchestra was one of the first to be heard on recordings and on the radio, playing a nationally broadcast concert with guest conductor Bruno Walter in 1923. In 1968, the orchestra changed its name to the Minnesota Orchestra (or Minnesota Orchestral Association).
Today the Orchestra performs a wide variety of music including nearly 175 concerts in a typical year, primarily at Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis, the organization’s home since 1974. The Orchestra is led by Music Director Thomas Søndergård and has historically toured regularly throughout Minnesota, nationally and abroad. The Minnesota Orchestra has an annual budget of $42.6M and ended FY2024 with net assets of $185.5M. The organization employs over 150 FT employees and over 100 PT staff and is supported and governed by an 80+ member Board of Directors. In 2024-25, 237,875 guests attended in-person concerts; with audio streaming, digital concerts, TV and radio broadcasts included that number reached more than 2.5 million people.
Minnesota Orchestra Values:
We believe every employee is essential to the success of the organization and critical to accomplishing our mission to enrich, inspire and serve our community. Our working relationships are based on respect for each other as individuals, confidence in one another, and a genuine desire to actively listen and collaborate with each other. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organization that honors and reflects the community we serve, welcomes, and instills diversity across our organization, and nurtures an equitable and inclusive culture.
Essential Functions and Day-to-Day Work
Cross-Functional & Team Responsibilities
- Build trusted and effective relationships with all employees to advance the organizational culture that lives the values, demonstrating a high level of collaboration through actions and policies that support a respectful, inclusive, and diverse workforce.
- Assist in crafting, administering, and maintaining payroll, leave administration, and other People and Culture strategies and organizational policies.
- Maintain the integrity of the HRIS and related systems, including implementations and ongoing system maintenance.
- Assist in continuous improvement efforts for managing payroll and leave administration processes.
- Assist with audit and compliance reporting.
- Collaborate with the People and Culture team to establish and report key human resource, payroll, and leave administration metrics.
- Assist the People and Culture team with document management, including scanning paper files, as well as uploading, organizing, and maintaining files in SharePoint and Learn Your Benefits.
- Participate in organizational events, including all-staff meetings, board meetings, concerts, receptions, dinners, lunches, and fundraising events as necessary.
Payroll Processing
- Validate and input data from time sheets into the payroll system (Paylocity) for weekly payroll processing, ensuring compliance with union collective bargaining agreements and federal, state, and local payroll, wage, and hour laws.
- Balance payroll runs and provide various reporting to internal teams and externally to reporting agencies.
- Enter, maintain, and process HRIS data including new hires, terminations, changes to pay rates, and demographic information.
- Manage the invoice process for payroll-related expenditures, union dues, benefit carriers, or other payroll deduction-related reporting.
- Research and resolve payroll and related inquiries or issues, coordinating with vendors on technical issues or other related matters.
- Provide coordination and proactive ideas for continuous improvement of payroll processes.
- Maintain payroll expertise through continuing education efforts and general sense of curiosity.
- Assist with maintaining employee and People and Culture files.
- Serve as a subject-matter resource for payroll audits and reporting and help resolve discrepancies with People and Culture and Finance.
Leave Administration & Benefits
- Lead and manage employee leave programs, including Short-Term Disability (STD), Long-Term Disability (LTD), Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML), FMLA, and other disability leaves.
- Serve as the primary point of contact for employee leave questions.
- Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local leave-related regulations.
- Maintain accurate leave records.
- Process requests for accommodation.
- Administer Workers' Compensation.
- Assist with benefits administration as needed (e.g., 401K, 403b).
- Experience administering leaves and other benefits in alignment with collective bargaining agreements strongly preferred.
General HR Support
- Maintain HRIS records and employee data.
- Assist with compliance reporting and audits.
- Support policy updates and HR communications (e.g., payroll schedule, holiday schedule, PTO request process).
- Assist with the background check process.
- Create and process Employee Action Forms.
- Create and run reports in Paylocity upon request (e.g., length of service, turnover)
Work Environment and Physical and Mental Demands
The Minnesota Orchestra is primarily a place-based organization, offering hybrid schedules that require some in-person, on-site work. This role requires 3 to 4 days per week on site. While working on site at Orchestra Hall or the administrative offices, work is performed in an open office environment with moderate noise levels in a cubicle desk configuration, and in a performing arts building on stage, in a lobby, or other location within the facility, and occasionally in an outdoor environment for outdoor concerts or other activities.
While performing the duties of this position, incumbents may be required to do all or some of the following, with or without accommodation:
- Sit or stand at a desk, counter, or other work surface.
- Talk and/or hear spoken words, music, or other sounds.
- Use hands or fingers to handle or touch objects around them.
- Review documents, monitors, or displays with potentially small print.
- Operate a computer, phone, and other common office tools or controls.
- Mentally focus on tasks and apply sound reasoning and judgment.
- Work in or attend meetings or other events in any of the Orchestra's locations or other sites as necessary.
- Lift/move objects (such as files, packages, props, or office equipment) or ensure objects are lifted/moved that may weigh up to 15 lbs.
The typical workdays and hours for the organization are Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm, with potential for extended evening, weekend, or holiday hours if required by the event or performance schedule. In this exempt position, work is expected to be delivered within established deadlines and quality standards without regard to the typical working days or hours as noted above.
Perks & Benefits
Our benefit programs are more than just insurance plans. To us, they demonstrate a commitment to our employees and their families that we care about who they are and their health and wellbeing.
Health and Well-Being
Generous employer contributions to medical plans
Dental and vision plans
Health Savings Account (HSA) funding each pay period
Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
Employee Assistance Program
Life and AD&D
Short- and Long-Term Disability
Time Off
Generous PTO accrual
Generous sick leave accrual
Volunteering Time Off
13 organizational holidays
Financial
401(k) Plan with two ways to earn organizational contributions
Perks
MetroPass
Parking Garage Discounts
Complimentary and Discounted Tickets
Requirements:
Minimum Qualifications, Skills, and Abilities
- Bachelor's degree in Human Resources Management, Accounting, or a relevant field, or the equivalent amount of training and hands-on experience sufficient to perform the essential functions of the position.
- 5+ years of experience managing a weekly or bi-weekly payroll process for 200+ employees and administration of related reports and analysis.
- Experience administering leave programs (STD, LTD, PFML, FMLA) and other benefits, ideally in alignment with collective bargaining agreements.
- Experience in a multi-union environment preferred.
- Demonstrated aptitude for creating and analyzing payroll and other key HR and financial metrics and similar data.
- Demonstrated ability to manage confidential and sensitive information
- High degree of personal integrity and sound judgment.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines with excellent attention to detail.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to effectively present ideas and deliverables to internal stakeholders, external suppliers, vendors, or other entities.
- Ability to collaborate with others to identify and solve issues or make proactive recommendations and lead through influence.
- Demonstrated enthusiasm for advancing the mission of the Minnesota Orchestra.
Technology/Equipment
- Advanced knowledge of payroll systems, Paylocity preferred.
- Advanced knowledge of HRIS systems, Paylocity preferred.
- Advanced knowledge of MS Office suite, especially Excel, Word, and Outlook.
- Intermediate knowledge of SharePoint, Concur, PowerPoint, and Adobe Pro.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
The Minnesota Orchestral Association is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable discrimination laws. We recruit, hire, train and promote all persons without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age, disability, creed, status with regard to public assistance or any other non-job related characteristic
