A lighting company HR manager hires year-round installers and office staff, and builds holiday crews each fall. They run onboarding, driving and training records, comp claims, layoffs after takedown and the list of crew members to rehire.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, electrical contractors · BLS, May 2025
You'll staff our lighting company through big seasonal swings. You hire year-round installers and office staff, ramp up holiday lighting crews each fall, and handle onboarding, training records, seasonal layoffs and rehires. You also keep driving, lift training and license records current.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Recruit year-round installers, technicians and office staff, and seasonal holiday crews starting in [late summer].
Run onboarding: I-9, tax forms, driving record checks and safety orientation before anyone works on a lift or roof.
Track aerial lift operator training, fall protection training, and electrical licenses where your state requires them.
Plan seasonal layoffs and rehire strong crew members from past seasons with the Operations Manager.
Manage workers' comp claims and return-to-work plans with the Safety Officer.
Keep the handbook, job descriptions and overtime policies current, including rules for long days in peak season.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Screen applicants and set interviews with crew leads and managers.
Process new hires, changes and exits in [your HRIS].
Follow up on driving record results and training sign-offs.
Answer employee questions on pay, time off and benefits.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Holiday crews fully staffed by the start of install season: [your target].
Seasonal employees who return the next year: [your target].
Time to fill year-round roles: [your target].
Training records complete before the first field day: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
[4+] years in HR at a construction, contracting or seasonal business.
Experience with high-volume seasonal hiring.
Knowledge of employment law, overtime rules and workers' comp.
Experience with [your HRIS or payroll system].
6. Preferred Experience
SHRM-CP or PHR certification.
Experience with motor vehicle record checks and fleet insurance requirements.
Bilingual in English and [a language your crews speak].
7. Physical Requirements
Office work at a computer and on the phone for long periods.
Walk the warehouse and job sites for training and incident follow-up.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Office-based at [main office location].
Heavy hiring in [late summer and early fall] and layoffs after takedown.
Some early-morning hours to meet crews before they leave the shop.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new hr manager gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
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
HR at most trades runs a steady headcount. A lighting company hires a second workforce every fall and lets much of it go in January, so the same paperwork runs twice a year at speed.
Returning crews can keep last year's I-9
A returning holiday installer may not need a new Form I-9. Federal rules let you use the old one if they're rehired within three years of when it was first filled out. Add the rehire date to the old form. Check their papers again only if their work authorization has expired. File returning crews' forms by season so you can find them fast in September. Source: eCFR: 8 CFR 274a.2, verification of identity and employment authorization.
Holiday hires have their own coverage label
Employers large enough to fall under the IRS employer health coverage rules need this label. A holiday installer is likely a seasonal employee, since the job customarily runs six months or less each year. For a new seasonal hire, the rules let you use an initial measurement period to decide whether they count as full time. Have your benefits adviser set up that method before fall hiring, not after the first long week. Source: eCFR: 26 CFR 54.4980H-1, definitions for employer shared responsibility.
Alaska counts overtime by the day
Long install days raise overtime questions everywhere, but states differ. In Alaska, overtime starts after 40 hours a week or eight hours in a day, paid at time and a half. The rule covers employers with four or more workers, with an exception for approved flexible hour plans. Set peak-season overtime policy state by state. Source: Alaska Department of Labor: Alaska Wage and Hour Act.
Teen hires stay off the roof
Seasonal ads draw applicants under 18. Under federal child labor rules, work on or about a roof is off limits at ages 16 and 17, and the rule names gutter and downspout work. Roofline lights clip to gutters, so give younger hires ground jobs, like checking strands in the warehouse, unless the apprentice or student-learner exemption applies. Check your state's rules too. Source: eCFR: 29 CFR 570.67, roofing operations and work on or about a roof.
Fall protection training needs a signed record
On construction work, OSHA's fall protection rule calls for a written record for each trained worker. It lists the worker's name, the training dates, and the signature of the trainer or the employer. Seasonal crews trained in a September rush are the easiest to miss. File the record before each person's first roof or lift day, and review returning crew members' files every fall. Source: eCFR: 29 CFR 1926.503, fall protection training requirements.
How much lighting installation HR managers make
The closest BLS group for lighting installation HR managers is human resources managers. Human resources managers who work for electrical contractors earned a median of $132,980 a year ($63.93 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 490 of the 220,660 human resources managers in that survey work for electrical contractors.
Usually salaried. Some lighting companies this size hire an HR generalist instead, at pay closer to the HR specialist level.
Electrical contractors
$132,980$132,980 median Middle half $101,520–$169,990 10th–90th $82,270–$208,020
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
Electrical contractors
$82,270
$101,520
$132,980
$169,990
$208,020
All industries
$88,200
$111,110
$149,280
$199,290
$267,810
BLS doesn’t publish pay for lighting installers on their own. These figures cover electrical contractors, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
High-volume seasonal hiring with fast, clean onboarding
Federal and state wage and hour rules, including overtime
I-9, new hire and workers' comp paperwork without gaps
Running layoffs and recalls fairly and on record
Talking easily with installers and crew leads at an early shop meeting
Teach these on the job
Your HRIS and payroll system
Aerial lift and fall protection training records
Your state's electrical license rules for lighting work
Motor vehicle record checks and your insurer's driver rules
The lighting season calendar and crew roles
The job runs on payroll software, for example Paylocity or ADP, hiring software that can absorb a fall surge of applicants, and a training log tied to each employee. An e-sign tool lets seasonal hires finish forms on a phone before their first day.
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 · Seasonal ramp-up
You need [40] seasonal installers trained and on the road by early November. It's August. What's your plan?
A strong answer: Rehires the best returning workers first, uses referrals and local outreach, runs structured interviews, and schedules I-9 forms, driving checks and safety training before anyone works on a roof or lift.
Behavioral · Respectful layoffs
Tell me about a time you handled the end-of-season layoff for holiday crews.
A strong answer: Used clear criteria, told people in person with notice, paid final wages on time under state rules and kept the door open for rehire.
The template's targets are blanks to fill from your own seasons. Start with last fall's start dates, return rates and training files, then set the bar.
Holiday crews fully staffed by the start of install season
On the first scheduled install day, compare filled seasonal positions with the crew plan operations set in summer. Count a hire only once onboarding and training are done.
Seasonal employees who return the next year
From last season's roster, count the people you invited back who were rehired. Track those not invited on a separate line so turnover and choice don't blur.
Time to fill year-round roles
Count days from when a role is approved to when the candidate says yes, for installers, technicians and office roles, with licensed roles on their own line.
Training records complete before the first field day
For every new or returning field employee, check that orientation, lift and fall protection records are signed and filed before their first scheduled day on site.
Career path
Recruiting coordinatorSchedules interviews and runs onboarding during the fall hiring push.
HR managerOwns hiring, records, comp claims and layoffs for both workforces.
HR directorLeads HR for several branches or a group of trade companies.
The template says HR walks the warehouse and job sites. What does that involve?
Walking the shop during safety orientation to show new hires where lifts, ladders and safety gear are kept, and visiting a job site after an injury report to take statements and photos. HR may also stop by a training session to confirm who attended before signing records. Reasonable accommodation applies to all of it.
How much does a lighting installation HR manager make?
Human resources managers who work for electrical contractors earned a median of $132,980 a year ($63.93 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $101,520 and $169,990 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Can we check driving records before hiring holiday crew members?
Yes, for jobs that drive company trucks, if you follow the rules. When a background company runs the check, the FTC says you must give a written notice in a stand-alone format and get written permission first. When the report might cost the applicant the job, hand them the report you relied on, with the FTC's form summarizing their FCRA rights, before you decide. Your state or city may also have fair-chance rules with extra steps.
How should a lighting company handle seasonal layoffs?
Tell holiday hires at the start that the job ends after takedown, and put the expected end date in the offer letter. In January, give each person written notice, any unemployment notice your state requires, final pay on your state's timeline, and a clear answer on whether you'd rehire them. Crew leads' ratings, gathered before people leave, make next fall's recall list easy.
When should a lighting company start holiday hiring?
Work back from the first install date. Returning crew members need a call in midsummer, before they commit to other fall work. New hires need time for driving checks, I-9s, orientation and lift and fall training before they go up, so open postings by late summer, as the template suggests, and run group orientations each week in September.
