Duties

The incumbent is the facility expert regarding determining pay for a myriad of positions including specialty care positions, maintaining payroll records, and completing related reports pertaining to civilian employees of the Federal Government. Incumbent operates under an automated payroll system in which data is coded and verified by the incumbent and submitted to the agency payroll processing center. Processes a variety of complex pay cases within the full range of payroll functions. Reviews personnel documents relating to proposed personnel appointment, change, or separation actions which affect the pay of employees. Applies pay and leave laws, rules, regulations, and the agency policy regarding entitlements to overtime, differentials, hazardous duty, holiday and special rates, premium pay, allowances, etc., which at times involve conflicting requirements. Determines the completeness, accuracy, internal consistency and propriety of the pay action and ensures they are made in accordance with compensation and related pay scales, rules, regulations, and instructions. With proper documentation, processes and withholds special pay entitlements such as final Salary payments to beneficiaries of deceased employees or salary withholdings for alimony, child support, and bankruptcy. Makes complex pay adjustments which may involve transfers between pay systems differing in pay, leave, and benefit entitlements and which may be retroactive over an extended period of time. Handles written and verbal inquiries from employees and supervisors concerning pay and leave issues. Computes and prepares out-of-system payments and maintains payroll records on all employees. Prepares assigned payroll-related reports and assures that submission is on a timely basis. Responsible for training unit timekeepers annually and conducting semiannual audits to ensure conformity to regulations. Trains new supervisory personnel in proper use of supervisory menus regarding time and attendance. Responds to written and verbal inquiries from employees, supervisors, payroll office of other agencies, timekeepers, HR Offices, State Unemployment Office, financial institutions, mortgage companies, Treasury Department, IRS, and employee union representatives. Processes tax levies and collections of other debts due the U.S. Government. Audits time and attendance cards after payment and leave is released to the processing center

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/31/2023?.
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 this GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05 level. 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.

You must qualify based on your experience as described below:
Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: experience as a Civilian Payroll Technician; processing payroll, time and attendance, tax withholding, and retirement; utilizing a variety of interrelated steps, conditions, and processes to assemble, review, and maintain a variety of complex pay transactions; processing various payroll related reports; resolving timekeeping, leave (paid time off), and benefit issues; utilizing automated pay systems to reconcile errors, and provide accurate information and assistance; and operating a personal computer with a variety of software

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: The work requires some physical effort such as standing, walking, bending, or sitting. There are no specific physical demands. 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/ .

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified : applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/ .This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. To ensure compliance with an applicable preliminary nationwide injunction, which may be supplemented, modified, or vacated, depending on the course of ongoing litigation, the Federal Government will take no action to implement or enforce the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to Executive Order 14043 on Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees. Therefore, to the extent a VA job announcement includes language requiring applicants to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 pursuant to Executive Order 14043, that requirement does not currently apply to this Job Announcement. VA may request information regarding your vaccination status, if selected, for the purposes of implementing other workplace safety protocols, such as masking, physical distancing, testing, travel, and quarantine. Due to COVID-19, VA is currently in an expanded telework posture. If selected, you may be expected to temporarily telework, even if your home is located outside the local commuting area. Once employees are permitted to return to the office, you will be expected to report to the duty station listed on this announcement. Management officials will provide information about returning to the official, pre-pandemic worksite, when applicable. At that time, you may be eligible to request to continue to telework depending upon the terms of your organization's telework policy and the duties of the position. If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .