Civilian Pay Technician

Summary

Applicant must be within 40 miles of commuting area of VISN 4 facility. Provide data, reports, guidance and resolutions to issues faced in Fiscal Service, Facility Committee's and Management, and VISN 4 staff and leadership when necessary. Research, resolve and respond to verbal and written pay and leave inquires from employees, supervisors, and personnel staff.

Learn more about this agency

Help

Overview

• Accepting applications

• Open & closing dates

03/12/2024 to 03/26/2024

• Salary

$44,117 - $57,354 per year

• Pay scale & grade

GS 6

• Help

Locations

many vacancies in the following locations:

• Wilmington, DE

• Altoona, PA

• Butler, PA

• Coatesville, PA

• Show more locations (5)

• Erie, PA

• Lebanon, PA

• Philadelphia, PA

• Pittsburgh, PA

• Wilkes Barre, PA

• Remote job

No

• Telework eligible

Yes-as determined by the agency policy.

• Travel Required

Not required

• Relocation expenses reimbursed

No

• Appointment type

Permanent -

• Work schedule

Full-time -

• Service

Competitive

• Promotion potential

None

• Job family (Series)

0544 Civilian Pay

• Supervisory status

No

• Security clearance

Not Required

• Drug test

No

• Position sensitivity and risk

Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

• Trust determination process

Suitability/Fitness

• Announcement number

CBSZ-12346032-24-STJ

• Control number

781167400

Help

This job is open to

• Federal employees

• Competitive service

Current or former competitive service federal employees.

• Federal employees

• Excepted service

Current excepted service federal employees.

• Internal to an agency

Current federal employees of this agency.

• Veterans

Clarification from the agency

Current, permanent, and former competitive service Federal employees, and people eligible under special hiring authorities. This includes all Merit Promotion sources: Status (Transfers, Reinstatements), VEOA, Permanent Canteen (VCS) employees, CTAP, ICTAP, Non-Competitive Eligible and certain Excepted Service Employees (i.e., Interchange Agreements). Current, permanent employees of the facility will get first consideration.

Videos

Help

Duties

Duties as assigned but not limited to:

• Answer requests and provide advice to employees, supervisors, financial management specialists, and to personnel specialists on rules, regulations, and procedures relating to pay.

• Prepares all required bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reports.

• Answers questions on leave regulations, procedures, and balances.

• Maintains records pertaining to Federal Employee Health Benefits, Federal Employee Life Insurance, Federal, State and Local Taxes, Student Loan Repayment Program, Employee Voluntary Leave Program, Federal Workers Compensation and all other documentation necessary to support payment of salaries. Incumbents posts, examines, balances, computes, and extracts data from electronic records, to prepare a variety of reports, computations of pay entitlements and other required outputs.

• Responsible for the accuracy of the authorization documents which affect the propriety of pay as well as for the accuracy of computations.

• Employee verifies the employees' taxes, retirement, health benefits, life insurance, union dues, thrift-saving plan (TSP), and others. Incumbent determines eligibility for pay and benefits based on such factors as the type of appointment and pay plan involved, the tour of duty, and the location of employment.

• Incumbent enters time/attendance corrections, pay related changes and master record schedule changes in to the Defense Finance and Accounting System (DFAS) Pay System, the Personnel and Accounting Integrated Data (PAID) System or the DFAS Remedy Action Request System.

• Incumbent reviews personnel documents for proper application of pay regulations and consistency of input for appointments, promotions, pay adjustments, reassignments, awards, and separations.

• These actions affect employees under the General Schedule, Federal Wage System, Fee Basis, Senior Executive Service and Title 38 pay schedules that include physicians and dentists, optometrists and podiatrists, nurses, residents, stipend trainees and non-appropriated fund employees of the Veterans Canteen Service.

• Incumbent processes time and attendance records of a diversified workforce covering a variety of appointment authorities and employment situations under various pay systems.

• Each pay system has different entitlements to pay, leave, deductions and benefits. Tours of duty vary to provide 24-hour coverage 7 days per week and provide different pay entitlements.

• Maintains and promotes productive relationships with medical center staff to assure that Payroll, travel, and Agent Cashier activities are performed in the most effective and efficient manner without major disruption to the medical center. These relationships are used to promote the coordination of cross-organizational activities and information sharing.

Work Schedule: Monday

• Friday 8:00a.m.

• 4:30p.m.

Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Civilian Pay Technician/PD00733A

Help

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job

• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.

• 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, 03/26/2024.

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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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 may 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: Possessing experience as a Civilian Payroll Technician; possessing knowledge of a body of payroll, time and attendance, tax, and retirement; utilizing a variety of interrelated steps, conditions, and procedures or processes to assemble, review, and maintain a variety of complex pay transactions; processing various payroll related reports; resolving time, leave 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 programs. (This experience must be reflected in your resume to be credited to your rating.).

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Accounting

• Attention to Detail

• Customer Service

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 is primarily performed while sitting, but requires some walking, standing, carrying light objects, and occasionally driving an automobile. Manual dexterity is also required to operate a CRT and/or data entry console.

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.

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.

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

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.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Read more

• Benefits

Help

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new window

Learn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.