Maria Garcia
Plantation,Florida
Summary
Highly-effective Human Resources Manager delivering successful strategies for maximizing personnel retention and productivity. Excellent reputation for resolving problems, improving customer satisfaction, and driving overall operational improvements. Skilled partnering with management teams to build employee-centric cultures promoting positive morale and optimizing productivity. Motivating and positive with excellent interpersonal, coaching and communication skills. Versatile Regional Manager experienced in wide range of business needs, including strategic planning, promotional activities and human resources. Accustomed to stepping into different roles every day to enable business operations to evolve and meet changing demands. SHRM-CP and PHR certified.
Overview
12
12
years of professional experience
Work History
Benefits and Pension Manager
National Beverage, Corp
08.2022 - Current
- Responsible for administration of employee benefits to 1400 employees throughout 12 plants.
- Provides assistance to all locations with various HR related concerns and questions.
- Develops, recommends and installs approved, new or modified plans and employee benefit policies and supervises administration of existing plans.
- Develops cost control procedures to assure maximum coverage at the least possible cost to the company and employee.
- Identifies benefit options through RFP and due diligence processes.
- Recommends and submit budget forecast to management.
- Prepares benefit documentation such as original and amended plan text, benefit agreements and insurance policies.
- Instructs insurance carriers, trustees, investment managers and other administrative agencies outside the company to effect changes in benefits program.
- Complies with federal, State and local legal requirements by studying existing and new legislation; enforcing adherence to requirements; advising management on needed action.
- Supervises maintenance of benefits/human resource records.
- Supervises maintenance of enrollments, applications, beneficiary information and audit trail documentation.
- Reconciles monthly benefit accounts by approving billing statements and invoices.
- Maintains professional and technical knowledge by attending educational workshops; reviewing professional publications; establishing personal networks; participation in professional societies.
Senior Human Resources Business Partner
Ripley Entertainment, Inc.
09.2019 - 07.2022
- Responsible for Human Resources matters including employee lifecycle, employee relations employee engagement for this 3000 employees throughout the amusement attraction industry.
- Fostered cross-functional relationships to connect managers and employees and improve overall efficiencies.
- Promoted and reviewed employee programs, supported necessary changes to align operations objectives with company goals.
- Resolved understaffing issues, disputes, employee terminations and disciplinary procedures.
- Met with employees annually for progress reviews and performance assessments.
- Managed Human Resource and Recruiting staff and oversaw completion of tasks and initiatives.
- Administered benefits, health plans and retirement plans by request or during open enrollment periods.
- Coached managers on effective strategies for improving employee relations.
- Led employee relations through effective communication, coaching, training and development.
- Demonstrated effective communication skills through positive interactions with site managers, outside contractors, and on-site staff.
- Promoted and enabled necessary changes to align operations with strategic plans.
- Minimized risk exposure through careful advice on business operations and strategic plans.
DC Business Partner
O’Reilly Distribution Center
05.2017 - 06.2019
- Effectively led all Human Resources matters for 1450+ employees for the Greensboro and Indianapolis distribution center.
- Led company initiatives, including change management platform, constructive feedback, training and developments, succession planning, compensation analysis and new hire orientation and onboarding programs, improving employee experience.
- Streamlined HR efficiencies for recruitment, testing and hiring of new employees from 28 days to 14 days.
- Promoted employee buy-in of organizational objectives by conducting orientation and onboarding programs and developed on-the-job training agendas for new hires, bolstering employee job position knowledge and skillset. Motivated employees of training programs and provided upper management strategic recommendations for improvements.
- Built partnerships with location managers providing HR support essential to attain and exceed company goals.
- Successfully led company initiatives; completion of performance reviews and employee/ manager goals before deadline.
- Developed and implemented succession plans and promotion paths for all staff.
- Reduced workers' compensation claims by 15% instituting corporate safety training program.
- Ensured adherence to all federal and state guidelines and managed payroll and benefits for 1450+ employees.
- Updated training processes by reviewing existing documentation, leveraging feedback from associates, and working with legal and compliance teams.
Benefits Manager
Market America, Inc.
11.2014 - 04.2017
- Tracked self-insured metrics on a monthly basis and report to leadership.
- Responsible for all aspects of Benefits Administration; communications, vendor enrollments, compliance, support for staff, and lead/manage Open Enrollment.
- Managed one employee, an HR/Benefits Coordinator.
- Implemented a new HRIS (Employee Navigator) to help eliminate benefit errors, ensure accuracy for employees, and assist with reporting. Saved the company $60k in the first few months (transitioned from hardcopy enrollment forms and Excel spreadsheets).
- Reconciled monthly and weekly invoices and employee deductions to ensure accuracy. Completed monthly benefit audits, and adjust catch-up or refunds in payroll accordingly.
- Processed all COBRA qualifying events, new hire events, HSA, and FSA, in the COBRA vendor’s database. Answered employees questions relating to such benefits.
- Tracked self-insured metrics on a monthly basis and report to leadership.
- Managed one employee, an HR/Benefits Coordinator..
- Trained Office Managers on benefit processes, how to use Employee Navigator, etc.
- Administered Wellness program, monitor participation, and handle all communications.
- Responsible for all annual negotiations/renewal and planning.
- Handled all escalated claim issues as well as day to day issues and questions.
- Assisted with other projects as requested by upper management, help with Employee Relations issues, employee verifications, policy reviews/questions, internal intranet updates, etc.
- Evaluated customer needs and proposed specific benefits options.
Payroll Manager/Human Resources Manager
Ironshore Services, Inc
06.2012 - 10.2014
- Uploaded time records into Paychex and made adjustments to create accurate database for payroll processing functions.
- Reviewed time records for 1200 employees to verify accuracy of information.
- Led payroll production for 4 locations.
- Produced payroll activities documentation and reports to meet corporate guidelines and promote transparency.
- Processed payroll garnishments such as tax liens and child support.
- Offered payroll-related subject matter expertise to management and employees to resolve payroll discrepancies.
- Investigated payroll variances and employee claims to resolve discrepancies and balance financial records.
- Performed calculations in overtime, vacation and sick hours to provide accurate data to payroll processing database.
- Orchestrated and deployed unprecedented online employee timekeeping program to improve measurements of overtime and employee work hours.
- Accurately calculated deductions and processed payroll for 1200 employees.
- Developed disaster and recovery strategy to prepare company for hazardous weather conditions, nuclear accidents and terrorist attacks.
- Maximized team knowledge and productivity by effectively training, monitoring and directing employees in application of best practices and regulatory protocols.
- Maintained work structure by updating job requirements and job descriptions for all positions.
- Reduced expenses by analyzing compensation policies and implementing competitive programs while ensuring adherence to legal requirements.
- Administered benefits programs, analyzed compensation and other competitive data and prepared budgets.
- Assisted senior management with making key decisions by developing and submitting performance and compensation reports with status updates and improvement recommendations.
- Collected and analyzed information to monitor compliance outcomes and identify and address trends of non-compliant behavior.
- Conducted annual salary surveys and developed, analyzed and updated company salary budget.
- Oversaw all HR needs for 1200-employees operation across 4 locations.
- Educated management on successful policy implementation and enforcement actions to prevent employee legal entanglements.
- Provided guidance on policies and procedures to harmonize responses, provide appropriate investigation actions and reach resolution of grievances.
- Directed and controlled various benefit programs, including 401K, medical, dental and vision packages.
- Streamlined HR efficiencies, coordinated new hire orientations and provided onboarding and training for new employees.
- Implemented new-hire program by incorporating training initiatives while resolving problems and processing related documents.
- Directed onboarding and training for new employees, keeping company operations smooth and production efficient with skilled candidates.
- Forecasted expected personnel demands and developed forward-thinking approaches to achieve objectives.
- Reconciled health care benefits, tax contributions and retirement accounts to facilitate large-scale account reconciliations.
- Applied knowledge of regulations, employment law and tax code to keep operations in compliance with applicable standards.
- Manage full employment life cycle including on-boarding and new hire orientations, resignations and terminations.
- Reviewed time records for employees to verify accuracy of information.
- Planned, monitored and appraised employee work results by training managers to coach and discipline employees.
- Experienced in all HR needs for employee operation.
- Improved organizational filing systems for confidential employee records, resulting in improved accessibility and efficiency.
- Collected and tracked evidence in support of legal processes.
- Administered general liability and workers compensation policies, including investigating claims and case status paperwork preparation for submission to insurance carrier.
- Liaison for worker’s compensation payroll and site audits and maintained OSHA logs and reporting requirements.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Human Resources Management
Queens College
New York, NYSkills
- Ability To Manage
- Strong Collaboration Skills
- Employee Engagement
- Effective Communications
- Talent Acquisition
- Interviewing And Hiring
- Management
- Human Resources
- Labor Relations
- Employee Relations
- Policies And Procedures
- Call Center/Customer Focused
- Interpersonal Skills
- Process Improvement
Accomplishments
- Used Microsoft Excel to develop inventory tracking spreadsheets to reduce LOA occurrences.
- Documented, Investigated incidents of theft and resolved issueswhich led torecovery of lost funds.
Affiliations
- Society of Human Resource Management
Timeline
Benefits and Pension Manager
National Beverage, Corp
08.2022 - Current
Senior Human Resources Business Partner
Ripley Entertainment, Inc.
09.2019 - 07.2022
DC Business Partner
O’Reilly Distribution Center
05.2017 - 06.2019
Benefits Manager
Market America, Inc.
11.2014 - 04.2017
Payroll Manager/Human Resources Manager
Ironshore Services, Inc
06.2012 - 10.2014
Bachelor of Science - Human Resources Management
Queens College
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