HR Compliance and Total Rewards Manager

Job Summary:

The HR Compliance & Total Rewards Manager owns POWERX's HR compliance and total rewards programs across a nationally distributed, multi-state workforce. This role ensures POWERX meets all federal, state, and local employment law requirements and leads benefits administration, compensation, leave management, and HRIS coding and reporting. The Manager keeps people data and HR processes accurate, auditable, and scalable, and serves as the subject-matter expert who advises HR, payroll, finance, and business leaders on compliance risk. This is a highly technical, hands-on role that requires deep regulatory expertise, advanced HRIS and data skills, and the ability to both shape program direction and do the detailed work. The Manager also leads sensitive employee relations matters and workplace investigations with objectivity and discretion.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• May oversee Benefits, HRIS, or Compensation specialists as the function grows.
• Manages external partners, including benefits brokers and carriers, the workers' compensation carrier, leave administrators, HRIS vendors, and outside employment counsel.

Duties/Responsibilities:

Federal, State & Local Compliance

• Own POWERX's HR compliance program in every state where it has employees, including wage and hour rules, overtime, pay-stub requirements, final pay, paid sick leave, and meal and rest breaks.
• Track new and changing employment legislation and advise leadership on how it affects POWERX; update policies, the employee handbook, and practices to stay current.
• Make sure job postings and pay practices comply with state and local pay transparency laws.
• Ensure accurate FLSA exempt/non-exempt and employee/independent contractor classification.
• Ensure background check practices comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), state and local fair chance and ban-the-box laws, and pre-adverse and adverse action requirements; manage background screening vendor relationships.
• Ensure drug and alcohol testing policies and practices comply with regulations (where applicable), and POWERX policy, including pre-employment, random, post-accident, and reasonable suspicion testing.
• Maintain and regularly update background check and drug testing policies, and train hiring managers on compliant procedures.
• Manage Form I-9 and E-Verify compliance, including timely case creation, tentative nonconfirmation (TNC) resolution, reverification, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and required postings, and state E-Verify mandates.
• Manage the company's employment-based immigration and visa program in partnership with corporate immigration counsel, including H-1B, TN, L-1, and green card (PERM) sponsorships, extensions, and transfers.
• Track visa and work authorization expiration dates, coordinate timely filings, maintain public access files and Labor Condition Application (LCA) requirements, and ensure compliance with prevailing wage and worksite obligations.
• Serve as the primary liaison among employees, hiring managers, and immigration counsel, and advise leadership on sponsorship policy, costs, and timelines.
• Maintain required federal and state labor law postings and employee notices.

Audits & Regulatory Reporting

• Prepare and file required reports, including EEO-1, ACA 1094-C/1095-C, Form 5500, and state new-hire reporting.
• Conduct regular internal audits (I-9, personnel files, classification, overtime, benefits eligibility) and lead corrective action.
• Support responses to agency charges, audits, and DOL or state agency inquiries in partnership with outside counsel.
• Oversee records retention, HR data privacy, and HRIS access controls.

Benefits Administration

• Administer health and welfare, retirement (401(k)), and voluntary benefit programs from start to finish.
• Lead annual open enrollment, renewals, plan design analysis, and cost modeling with brokers and carriers.
• Ensure benefit plan compliance with ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, ACA, Section 125, and nondiscrimination testing requirements.
• Manage carrier and vendor relationships and performance, and resolve escalated employee benefit and claims issues.

Compensation

• Build and maintain salary structures, job architecture, and market benchmarking.
• Lead the annual merit cycle, including budgeting, manager guidance, and communications.
• Conduct periodic pay equity analyses and recommend corrective actions.
• Advise leaders on offers, promotions, and pay adjustments to ensure internal equity and market competitiveness.

Leave Management, Accommodations & Workers' Compensation

• Manage FMLA, state family and medical leave programs, state disability programs, military leave, and other protected leaves from start to finish.
• Administer the ADA interactive process and workplace accommodations.
• Coordinate with leave vendors, disability carriers, and payroll so pay and benefits continue correctly during leave.
• Train managers to recognize and properly escalate leave and accommodation requests.
• Partner with the Safety department and the workers' compensation carrier to manage claims from first report of injury through resolution, including timely claim reporting, documentation, and follow-up with injured employees.
• Coordinate return-to-work and transitional/modified duty programs, aligning workers' compensation with FMLA, state leave, and ADA obligations.

HRIS Coding, Data & Reporting

• Serve as functional owner of the HRIS, including configuration, earnings and deduction coding, benefit plan setup, org structure, and workflows.
• Maintain data integrity through regular audits and reconciliations with payroll and finance.
• Build and maintain standard and ad hoc reports and dashboards on headcount, turnover, compensation, benefits cost, and compliance metrics.
• Align people analytics with business objectives to support leadership decision-making, turning workforce data into clear insights and recommendations on cost, risk, retention, and workforce planning.
• Manage integrations and carrier file feeds, and partner with vendors on system upgrades and new functionality.

Employee Relations & Investigations

• Lead or oversee escalated sensitive employee relations matters, including complaints of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and policy violations.
• Conduct thorough, objective, and well-documented workplace and ethics investigations, including witness interviews, evidence review, findings, and recommendations.
• Manage ethics and compliance hotline reports and whistleblower concerns, ensuring timely follow-up and protection against retaliation.
• Partner with leadership and outside counsel on high-risk matters, corrective actions, and terminations, maintaining strict confidentiality and legal privilege where appropriate.
• Track employee relations trends and recommend policy, training, or process changes to reduce risk.

Integration & Process Improvement

• Support harmonization of benefits, pay practices, policies, and HRIS data for acquired entities.
• Document standard operating procedures and build scalable, auditable HR processes.
• Identify compliance risks and process gaps, and recommend and implement solutions.

Attributes/Abilities:

• Highly technical HR practitioner with expert knowledge of federal and multi-state employment law (Canadian knowledge a strong plus) and HR compliance requirements.
• Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy with data, filings, and deadlines.
• Sound judgment, objectivity, and discretion in handling highly confidential information, sensitive employee relations matters, and investigations.
• Strong technical, analytical, and reporting skills.
• Clear, practical communicator who can explain complex regulations to executives, managers, and employees.
• Strong vendor management, project management, and organizational skills.
• Proactive problem solver who builds scalable processes and drives continuous improvement.
• Able to work independently in a distributed environment and manage competing priorities.

Experience and Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of progressive HR experience, including at least 3 years focused on HR compliance, benefits, and/or compensation.
• Hands-on experience managing HR compliance for a multi-state workforce.
• In-depth knowledge of FLSA, FMLA, ADA, ERISA, ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, Title VII, FCRA, IRCA (Form I-9/E-Verify), and state leave, wage, background check, and drug testing laws.
• Demonstrated technical expertise in HRIS administration, including system configuration, earnings/deduction and benefit coding, custom report writing, data audits, and vendor/carrier file integrations.
• Strong technical understanding of payroll-to-HRIS-to-benefits data flows, reconciliations, and regulatory reporting requirements.
• Experience conducting or managing sensitive and escalated employee relations matters and workplace or ethics investigations, including documenting findings and recommendations.
• Experience managing benefits renewals, open enrollment, and broker/carrier relationships.
• Experience with both U.S. and Canadian employment law, benefits, payroll, and HR compliance is strongly preferred.
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR, CEBS, CCP, or CBP strongly preferred.
• Experience with mergers and acquisitions integration or workforce harmonization.
• Experience administering drug and alcohol testing programs and managing background screening vendors.
• Experience managing workers' compensation claims and return-to-work programs in partnership with Safety/EHS teams.
• Experience managing employment-based immigration programs (H-1B, TN, L-1, PERM) in partnership with immigration counsel.
• Experience in a distributed organization of 250 to 1,000 employees.
• Hands-on technical experience with HRIS platforms such as UKG, ADP Workforce Now, Paylocity, Workday, or Dayforce; SQL, Power BI, or advanced report-builder skills a plus.
• Experience leading or developing a small HR team.

Physical Requirements:

• This is an office desk position with no significant physical exertion required.
• Must be willing and able to access each department at the organization's facilities.
• May require travel.

POWERX is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.