Employee Relations Representative (1280) - Department of Human Resources

Company Description

Specific information regarding this recruitment process are listed below:

• Application Opening: Monday, August 24, 2026
• Application Deadline: Open until filled, the first application cut off will be August 31, 2026.
• Compensation: $120,796 - $169,858 annually
• Appointment Type: Temporary Exempt: This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer. 
• Duration of appointment: This position is supporting the upcoming round of labor contract negotiations. Position is expected to start around November 2026 and is expected to conclude around June 2027.
• Work schedule: This position works regularly in-person, onsite at Department of Human Resources offices at 1 South Van Ness Ave in San Francisco and requires some late nights and work on the weekends.

Job Description

The Employee Relations Division (ERD) of the Department of Human Resources is responsible for negotiating with labor organizations that represent employees of the City and County of San Francisco. These negotiations include bargaining over successor collective bargaining agreements, as well as changes to working conditions within the scope of representation pursuant to state and local law. ERD administers the provisions of all labor contracts, including economic and non-economic items; provides contract interpretation and advice to department heads and managers; investigates and attempts to resolve employee and union grievances; and conducts basic labor transactions, such as determining bargaining unit assignments, and advising on unfair labor practice charges.    

Under supervision, Employee Relations Representatives in ERD perform entry-level through journey-level professional employee relations staff duties. This includes reviewing and analyzing grievances, conducting research and analysis to support collective bargaining, and participating in dispute resolution and other employee relations activities. Examples of duties of the position include:

• Assists in the negotiation process by providing information for the Chief Negotiator and serving as note-taker as assigned.   
• Under direction, prepares written summaries in narrative, outline or graphic form, and a variety of other employee relations data, including benefits, salaries, unit facts, and grievance experience information.
• Under direction, gathers, prepares and analyzes technical and statistical data for use in negotiation of labor agreements, grievance processing, mediation, arbitration, fact finding, and other employee relations activities.
• With guidance, explains provisions of the memoranda of understanding, City and County resolutions, and policies related to Employee Relations, to personnel staff and departmental management and supervisory employees.
• Prepares routine correspondence and reports.
• Assists in the preparation of memoranda of understanding and other documents.
• Responds to routine inquiries related to City and County salaries, benefits and memoranda of understanding.
• Provides information on employee relations policies and procedures to departmental personnel.
• Assists with investigations related to salaries and benefits, including conducting salary and benefit surveys.
• Assists in preparation of resolutions, memoranda of understanding and other documents for submission to the Board of Supervisors.   
• Assists in implementation of negotiated memoranda of understanding, including coordination with representatives of personnel, payroll, Information Services and departmental management.
• Gains increasing knowledge of labor law and current trends and developments in the employee relations field.
• With supervision, may conduct meet and confer sessions with labor organization.
• Performs related duties and responsibilities, as assigned. 

Qualifications

• Education:  Possession of a Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college or university. Course work in the social/behavioral sciences or in public/business administration is preferred.
• Substitution: Professional personnel experience performing duties equivalent to those of City class 1280 Employee Relations Representative must substitute for the required education on a year-for-year basis.  (One year of experience will be considered equivalent to 30 semester or 45 quarter units of college coursework.) Experience in City classes other than 1280 must be documented in accordance with Civil Service Commission Rule 109 in order to be treated as qualifying.

Desirable Qualifications: 

• A law degree (J.D.) OR Master's degree in public or business administration, management, business law, contract law, public policy, urban studies, economics, statistical analysis, finance, accounting or other closely related fields.
• Experience working and negotiating with labor unions.
• Proven writing and verbal communication abilities.

The stated desirable qualifications may be used to identify job finalists at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

 

Verification of Education and Experience:
Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. More information can be found at: https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process#verification

All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

Additional Information

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About The Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.sf.gov/ and begin the application process.

• Select the “I’m Interested” button and follow instructions on the screen.

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact Denise.Chan@sfgov.org

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.