Carolyn Hill, PCP
Old Dutch Foods Ltd. – Summerside, PEI
Carolyn Hill is a payroll professional with abundant determination. So much determination in fact that she wrote her final payroll exam while the possibility that she might go into labour loomed large.
“At nine months pregnant, I was running out of time,” she says of the final test to earn her Payroll Compliance Practitioner designation, which she wrote in 2000. “All I could think was, ‘Please let me pass’!”
Carolyn did pass. She has now worked for Old Dutch Foods Ltd., in Summerside, Prince Edward Island for 27 years. She started working for the snack foods company as the accounts payable supervisor when a payroll position came up. “I was asked to take over as the payroll coordinator and I said I would, hoping I’d learn it quickly,” she says, adding that she quickly realized she had a lot to learn and decided to get her PCP designation. Since then, she has continually upgraded her knowledge via National Payroll Institute seminars.
“I’m very proud of the fact that I have overseen more than 1,200 payrolls,” Carolyn says, adding that advancing payroll technology has changed the role immeasurably. “We used to have pay stubs delivered to us and would have to go through them one by one to ensure they were all there. Now, this process is automated and it’s my job to manage quality control of the process and ensure everything is running smoothly.”
Carolyn likes the fact that while there is a rhythm to the payroll process, there are always changes such as new employees or status adjustments which keep her busy. A perfectionist who enjoys challenges, Carolyn is responsible for a payroll which includes a wide variety of pay categories, from plant workers to commission-based employees to merchandisers who stock store shelves.
Carolyn is proud to serve her colleagues. “Accuracy is critical and I’m determined to get it right,” she says, adding she knows that they trust her. “I know how I’d feel if I wasn’t paid properly.” Ensuring strong employee trust through payroll is also how Carolyn contributes to improving her company’s overall wellness. “Reputational risk is very real if there are payroll errors. Ensuring a professional payroll means that I am protecting my colleagues and my company from negative repercussions.”
Born and raised in PEI, Carolyn loves her island home, particularly the summer, where she bikes on nearby trails, and walks on gorgeous beaches.
She also enjoys the outdoors on her own property which measures more than an acre and a quarter. As well as flowering plants and a vegetable garden, she spends a lot of time planting and caring for trees. “It’s a very big job,” she says.
But her determined streak is abundantly clear: “It needs to be done and I get it done.”
