An excavation HR manager hires the operators, truck drivers, pipe crews and office staff a site work company needs, and keeps their files in order. They set the limits for summer help near trenches, plan CDL training for laborers who want to drive, and write the pay rules for days rain sends crews home.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, specialty trade contractors · BLS, May 2025
As the HR Manager for our Excavation & Site Work division, you will play a crucial role in recruiting top talent, ensuring full labor compliance, and fostering a positive and productive work culture. Your leadership will support our operational excellence, contributing directly to our growth and success in the home services industry.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Oversee the recruitment process for field and administrative positions ensuring that staffing needs are met promptly and efficiently.
Maintain full compliance with labor laws and safety regulations specific to the excavation and site work industry.
Develop and implement HR policies and best practices that promote a strong company culture and high employee engagement.
Manage performance evaluations, employee relations, and conflict resolution to sustain a positive work environment.
Collaborate with senior management to identify workforce planning needs and strategic HR initiatives.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Coordinate daily recruitment efforts including job postings, screening candidates, and scheduling interviews.
Ensure all new hires complete required documentation to meet labor compliance and safety standards.
Conduct regular check-ins with teams on-site to monitor morale, address issues, and promote company values.
Facilitate onboarding sessions and training programs to integrate new employees effectively.
Review and update HR records and compliance documents on a consistent basis.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Time-to-Fill Positions: Achieve an average fill rate of under 30 days per position.
Employee Retention Rate: Maintain a retention rate of 90% or higher annually.
Labor Compliance Rate: 100% adherence to local, state, and federal labor regulations.
Employee Engagement Score: Achieve an employee engagement survey score of greater than 90%.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field.
A minimum of 5 years of HR management experience, preferably in a trade or construction environment.
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with proven leadership abilities.
Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities concurrently.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience working within the excavation, construction, or home services industries.
Proven track record in developing and executing recruitment strategies in a high-demand field.
Background in managing compliance with site-specific safety and labor regulations.
Familiarity with HR information systems (HRIS) and applicant tracking systems.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to occasionally lift files, folders, or equipment up to 25 lbs.
Occasional visits to site locations requiring comfortable outdoor work in diverse weather conditions.
Ability to maneuver in both office settings and construction site environments safely.
Capacity to perform tasks that may require extended periods of standing or walking.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typically work Monday through Friday during standard business hours.
Occasional on-site visits to construction areas may be required.
Limited travel to regional sites as necessary to support recruitment and compliance.
Occasional extended hours during peak recruitment periods or company events.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Competitive annual salary range of $70,000 - $90,000 based on experience and qualifications.
Eligibility for performance-based bonuses and incentive programs.
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision benefits.
401(k) retirement plan with company match.
Additional fringe benefits such as paid time off and professional development opportunities.
10. Company Culture and Overview
Our company is dedicated to not only delivering exceptional excavation and site work services but also building a supportive and innovative workplace. We believe in empowering our employees with growth opportunities, continuous learning, and a collaborative environment. Join us and be part of a team that is committed to both quality service in home improvement and the personal development of each individual.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
An excavation company puts people to work around open trenches, sends heavy trucks onto public roads, and stops when it rains. Each of those facts brings an HR rule with it.
Summer help stays out of the trench
Federal Hazardous Occupations Order 17 bars workers aged 16 and 17 from digging, working in or backfilling trenches, except hand digging, hand backfilling or working in a trench no more than four feet deep at any point. So no teen runs a machine that digs or backfills a trench. Basement digs follow that line, though teens may also work in one with shored or sloped walls. Fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds are kept off construction sites entirely. A narrow exception covers registered apprentices and student-learners. Check state rules too. Source: eCFR: Excavation work barred to workers 16 and 17, Hazardous Occupations Order 17 (29 CFR 570.68).
Entry-level training before the CDL test
Training a laborer to drive takes planning. A driver getting a first Class A or B CDL, or upgrading to one, must first finish entry-level training. The trainer has to be on FMCSA's Training Provider Registry, and the state won't give the skills test until it confirms the training. The theory and behind-the-wheel parts must be done within a year of finishing the first one. A motor carrier can register as a training provider itself, so HR decides whether to train in house or use a school. Source: eCFR: Entry-level driver training rules (49 CFR Part 380, Subpart F).
Rain days and show-up pay
Rain often sends crews home after they've reported to the yard, and whether that time is paid can depend on state law. New Hampshire, for example, requires a minimum of two hours of pay, at the worker's usual rate, whenever someone shows up for work because the employer asked. An employer that tried in good faith to reach the worker first doesn't owe it. So HR writes a call-off rule, such as a text by a set hour, and keeps proof it went out. Source: New Hampshire RSA 275:43-a: Required pay when an employee reports to work (example state).
Hire operators from the seat
A resume can't show whether someone digs to grade. Run a seat test in the yard on the machine the person will use, the same way for every finalist: a walkaround, digging to a stake, and loading a truck. HR writes the score sheet with the field supervisor and keeps it in the hiring file, so the choice rests on the work and can be explained later. Before the first test, ask your insurance agent how an applicant in the seat is covered.
How much excavation HR managers make
The closest BLS group for excavation HR managers is human resources managers. Human resources managers who work for specialty trade contractors earned a median of $126,750 a year ($60.94 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $149,280 median for human resources managers in all industries. About 1,500 of the 220,660 human resources managers in that survey work for specialty trade contractors.
The template's salary is low for this chart: its top sits only a little above the line for the lowest-paid tenth of HR managers at specialty trade contractors. Budget higher when driver files, training records and payroll come with the job. Link the bonus to seats filled before the season starts and to clean file audits.
Specialty trade contractors
$126,750$126,750 median Middle half $105,760–$164,500 10th–90th $85,770–$199,980
All industries
$149,280$149,280 median Middle half $111,110–$199,290 10th–90th $88,200–$267,810
$50k$100k$150k$200k$250k$300k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Specialty trade contractors
$85,770
$105,760
$126,750
$164,500
$199,980
All industries
$88,200
$111,110
$149,280
$199,290
$267,810
BLS counts too few human resources managers at other specialty trade contractors for a steady figure, so these figures cover specialty trade contractors. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has handled hiring and files for operators and CDL drivers
Can explain which site tasks are off limits for teen hires
Has set up or managed training toward a CDL
Writes call-off and rain-day pay rules foremen can follow
Builds hiring tests around real machine work
Teach these on the job
Your machines and which roles run them
Your training school or your own registered training program
Your state's wage rules for show-up and call-off time
How each foreman's hiring needs change by season
Your payroll provider and its HR tools
Expect a payroll service with applicant tracking, a training tracker for operator sign-offs and CDL progress, and group texting that logs the time each crew-wide call-off went out. A strong finalist can explain how they would prove a rain-day notice reached every worker.
Excavation HR manager interview questions
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Recruiting operators
You need [three] experienced operators before spring, and every contractor nearby is hiring. Walk me through your plan.
A strong answer: Checks pay against the market, uses referrals and trade schools, builds a path to move laborers into operating, and keeps the hiring process fast with structured interviews and seat tests.
Behavioral · Retention
Tell me about a time you cut turnover among equipment operators, truck drivers or laborers.
A strong answer: Used exit or stay interview data, changed something specific like onboarding, pay steps or foreman training, and measured the result.
Report operators, drivers, laborers and office hires on lines of their own. One operator seat that stays empty for months can hide behind a dozen quick laborer hires.
Time-to-Fill Positions
Count the days between a foreman's request and the hire starting work with a crew, with operators, CDL drivers, laborers and office kept apart. An operator's count stops when they pass the seat test and run a machine on a job.
Employee Retention Rate
Of the operators, drivers and laborers on payroll a year ago, count who is still working here, by foreman as well as by job. A foreman who keeps losing operators shows up in this number before anywhere else.
Labor Compliance Rate
Pull a handful of files and pay records every quarter: I-9s, birth date records for hires under 18, driver training records, and rain-day pay against the call-off log. Score items correct against items checked.
Employee Engagement Score
A short survey with no names, run in spring and fall, handed out in the yard as well as by text, with crews and office scored apart. Make one visible change after each round, or answers dry up.
Career path
Office managerHandles new-hire forms and payroll changes alongside billing.
Excavation HR managerOwns hiring, driver training plans, teen limits and pay policy.
HR and safety directorAdds the safety program, insurance claims and more than one yard.
Can we discipline a worker who refuses to go into a trench?
Be careful. OSHA's rules say workers generally can't walk off the job over a possible hazard. But a good faith refusal is protected when there's no reasonable alternative, a reasonable person would see a real danger of death or serious injury, and there's no time to fix it through OSHA. Where possible, the worker must first ask the company to fix it. A deep trench with no box or shoring can be that kind of danger. Before any discipline that follows a safety refusal, have HR and your employment lawyer look at it.
How much does an excavation HR manager make?
Human resources managers who work for specialty trade contractors earned a median of $126,750 a year ($60.94 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $105,760 and $164,500 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Why does an HR template list site visits and long periods on foot?
In site work they describe real errands: walking a subdivision to meet a crew at lunch, standing through a yard safety meeting on a cold morning, and crossing a site in boots and a vest to find a foreman. Bringing a crate of new-hire packets and safety vests to the yard covers the lifting line. Keep the template's wording, list these errands under it in your ad, and say whom applicants can contact about an accommodation.
How is overtime figured when a laborer also runs a machine?
Many companies pay a higher rate for seat time. For a week worked at two rates, the federal regular rate is the weighted average: all straight-time pay divided by all hours. Overtime is figured from it. The other choice is an agreement made before the work that pays each overtime hour at one and a half times the rate for whatever work filled it. Either way, timecards must show seat hours apart from labor hours. State overtime law may add its own rules.
Is it worth funding a laborer's CDL training?
It's often the quickest way to fill a driver seat with someone you already trust. If you want repayment when a driver leaves soon after, put it in writing before training starts and get a lawyer to review it under your state's law. Schedule the training for the slow season, so crews aren't short a driver when the work picks up.
