Job Description

San Francisco Public Works (SFPW) currently has vacancies for the position of General Laborer, in our Operations division. Under general supervision, you will perform a variety of manual labor tasks such as removing debris from construction, maintenance, wrecking, or repair work; loading and unloading materials, supplies, furniture, and equipment. You may also be assigned to join a work crew with other crafts; operating various types of equipment and machinery including pneumatic and hand tools associated with general construction.

MAJOR, IMPORTANT, AND ESSENTIAL DUTIES As a general laborer, your duties may include but are not limited to the following:

• Excavates trenches (using various pneumatic and hand tools, including 90-pound jackhammers) for water and sewer lines, underground utility repair, or electrical conduits; backfills and compacts excavations; and potholes transmission mains and service piping.
• Clears culverts, and stakes fabric to prevent erosion of work sites, cement, and rip-raps upstream and downstream of culverts.
• Stabilizes embankments by building wet walls and drywalls alongside roadways and waterways.
• Clears obstacles prior to machine mowing.
• Serves as flag operator and sets up traffic barricades, lights, or other barriers around work sites (on streets or other locations).
• Clears and chips vegetation, brush, and limbs; clears firebreaks, watershed roadways, v-ditches, jogging and footpaths, pipeline rights-of-way, around structures, buildings, risers, vaults, and valve lots; cuts access routes to watershed domestic utility lines and springs; removes small trees and grinds stumps.
• Installs and maintains chain link, barbed wire, and hog wire fencing; cement watershed gate posts and chain link fence posts.
• Loads and unloads materials, supplies, furniture, and/or equipment by hand or with booms, power tailgates, forklifts, and other moving equipment for moving to and from worksites (examples: jackhammers, sandbags, cement bags, debris bags, railroad ties, whackers, vibratory plates).
• Removes and cleans up debris resulting from construction, maintenance, wrecking, or repair work around grounds and building areas using hands, broom, shovel, wheelbarrow, etc.
• You will work in confined spaces and assist in cleaning and flushing catch basins, septic tanks, or sewage treatment plants using shovels, hoses, and pumps to ensure proper sewer system drainage.
• Operates and maintains pneumatic, electrical, mechanical, and hand tools including air compressors, jackhammers, tie tampers, sandblasters, steam cleaners, hoists, drills, chain saws, cement mixers, chipping guns, weed whackers, spaders, stump grinders, fence stretchers, aerial lift buckets, and other hand tools to assist craft workers in getting their jobs done.
• Mixes and prepares concrete.
• Assists in the application of concrete and asphalt to repair roads and sidewalks.
• Sweeping streets and sidewalks.
• Applies disinfectants, de-greasers, and herbicides to streets and sidewalks.
• Scrubs streets, sidewalks, and plazas with a broom or high-pressure water hose.
• Picks up litter and puts debris into bags.
• Cleans up illegal dumping sites, spills on city streets, and sites of accidents.
• Removes litter and signs from poles and benches.
• Operates motorized sidewalk sweepers to clean sidewalks.
• Uses radio communication systems or other communication devices.
• Manages a tool room, distributing tools and tracking inventory.
• Completes forms such as work orders, daily work or field reports, and/or accident report forms.
• Drives a truck and/or car to work sites and follows routes or other maps.
• Prepare surfaces for painting; removes graffiti from public/private property using a computerized color matching program, soda blaster, and/or steam cleaner.
• May include additional duties as assigned.

Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Experience: Three (3) years (6000 hours) of journey-level experience as a general laborer in the construction field.

License: Possession of a valid Class C California Driver License (must be maintained during employment).

Substitution: Completion of a California Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS) or United States Department of Labor (DOL) approved apprentice construction laborer program may be substituted for the required experience.

VERIFICATION: Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements.

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.

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.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application. 

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores. 

SELECTION PROCEDURES: The selection process will include an evaluation of applications in relation to minimum requirements. Depending on the number of applicants, the Department may establish and implement additional screening mechanisms to comparatively evaluate the qualifications of candidates. If this becomes necessary, only those applicants whose qualifications most closely meet the needs of the Department will move forward in the recruitment process. Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement through all of the steps in the selection procedure.

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
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

STATEMENT ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION: At the City and County of San Francisco, we share a commitment to a diverse, inclusive and equitable community. Each member of our organization is responsible and accountable for what they say and do to make San Francisco an inclusive and equitable place to live and work by employing fair and just practices to and for all.

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 the 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 the analyst, Lateef Taylor, at lateef.taylor@sfdpw.org.

Please click the following link to learn more about the three workplace core values we live and embrace every day here at Public Works: Respect, Integrity, and Responsiveness.

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT:  All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Someone is fully vaccinated when 14 days have passed since they received the final dose of a two-shot vaccine or a dose of a one-shot vaccine. Any new hire must present proof of full vaccination status to be appointed. Any new hire who will be routinely assigned or occasionally enter High-Risk Settings, must provide proof of having received a COVID-19 booster vaccine by March 1, 2022, or once eligible.

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.