Payroll Lead & HR Support in Gillingham

Founded over 20 years, Lawtech have become a leading principal contractor specialising in cladding remediation. We deliver high-quality, compliant, multi-million-pound cladding repatriations and regeneration contracts throughout Great Britain. The Company is committed to identifying and eliminating unlawful discriminatory practices, procedures, and attitudes throughout the Company. The Company expects employees to support this commitment and to assist in its realisation in all possible ways. Specifically, the Company aims to ensure that no employee or candidate is subject to unlawful discrimination, either directly or indirectly, on the grounds of gender, race (including colour, nationality or ethnic origin), disability, sexual orientation, marital status, part time status, age, religion or belief. This commitment applies to all aspects of employment.

Overall Purpose of Role:

The Payroll & HR Specialist is responsible for managing and coordinating the company’s payroll processes to ensure timely and accurate payment of salaries, wages, and deductions. This role ensures compliance with HMRC regulations, pension auto-enrolment, and statutory requirements, while maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of employee payroll data. In addition to payroll, the role will support core HR activities including onboarding, employee records management, and HR administration. The successful candidate will play a key role in improving processes, maintaining data integrity, and ensuring a smooth employee experience across both payroll and HR operations.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Payroll Processing: Prepare and process the company’s payroll accurately and on schedule (monthly). Collect and verify timesheets, overtime, bonuses, benefits, deductions, and other pay-related data. Input, review, and reconcile payroll data in payroll systems (e.g., Sage Payroll 50). Handle adjustments for starters, leavers, and employee changes (e.g., promotions, maternity leave and salary changes). Pension submission. Overall end to end payroll. Handle and resolve complex payroll discrepancies and problems. Identify opportunities to improve payroll processes.
• Compliance and Reporting: Ensure compliance with UK payroll legislation, including PAYE, National Insurance, pension auto-enrolment, and statutory payments (SSP, SMP, SPP, etc.). Submit RTI (Real Time Information) reports to HMRC accurately and on time. Support the completion of P45s, P60s, P11Ds, and year-end payroll activities. Maintain accurate payroll records in accordance with GDPR and company data policies. Keep up to date with UK Payroll legislation and industry best practice. Suggest ways to improve accuracy, efficiency and compliance in Payroll operations.
• Employee Support: Act as the first point of contact for payroll-related queries from employees and manage the Payroll inbox on a daily basis. Provide payslips, resolve discrepancies, and explain deductions where needed. Liaise with HR to ensure employee data (bank details, addresses, tax codes) is up to date.
• Coordination & Collaboration: Work closely with the HR and finance departments to ensure payroll accuracy. Assist in budgeting and forecasting payroll costs. Coordinate with pension providers and benefit administrators for contributions and deductions.
• HR Duties: Assist with carrying out new starter inductions. Assist with general onboarding. Provide administrative and coordination support in line with company policies and employment legislation. Employee engagement and retention. Assist with HR Compliance. Assist with performance review cycles by coordinating and tracking completion. Any other ad hoc HR admin and project related matters.

Collaborate with:

• Line Managers & Senior Management: Provide Payroll guidance. Provide guidance on weekend working and overtime.
• Employees: Act as a first point of contact for Payroll-related queries. To maintain trust and confidentiality in all payroll interactions.
• Head of HR: Work closely with Head of HR to ensure payroll runs smoothly and on schedule. Escalate any unusual payroll issues, such as overpayments, incorrect tax codes, or policy discrepancies. Ensuring that the business stays compliant.
• Finance/Accounts: Work closely with the team to ensure that payroll runs smoothly and on time. Provide guidance on Payroll-related queries. Work with the Finance Director on ad hoc tasks.
• HR Team: Escalate complex HR matters (e.g. employee relations issues) to the appropriate HR team members while providing administrative support as required. Collaborate with the Recruitment Administrator to support the effective onboarding of new starters, ensuring all payroll and HR requirements are met. Work closely with the HR Advisor to support HR processes, ensuring accurate administration, compliance, and alignment with payroll. Work collaboratively with the wider team to provide support across HR activities as required.