A commercial refrigeration HR manager hires and holds on to techs, installers and office staff for both branches. They run onboarding, the apprentice program, certification and license tracking, injury claims, and the rules for on-call work, trucks and drug testing.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, HVAC and plumbing contractors · BLS, May 2025
You'll keep both branches staffed with technicians, installers and office staff in a trade where experienced refrigeration techs are scarce. You'll run hiring, onboarding, the apprentice program, certification tracking and injury claims, and the policies for on-call work, company vehicles and leave.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Run recruiting for technicians, installers, apprentices and office roles, including trade school partnerships and employee referrals.
Build onboarding for field staff: truck and tool checkout, safety training, refrigerant handling rules and a ride-along schedule.
Track each employee's EPA Section 608 certification, state licenses, driving record and safety training, and flag expirations.
Manage workers' compensation claims, return-to-work plans and OSHA injury and illness records.
Write and apply policies for on-call time, overtime, vehicle use and drug testing, following [your state's] rules.
Handle employee relations, investigations and performance documentation with managers.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Screen applicants and set up interviews with the Service Manager and Field Supervisor.
Answer manager questions about discipline, leave and scheduling rules.
Process new hires, I-9 forms and background or driving record checks.
Update the certification and training tracker.
Follow up on open injury claims.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Time to fill technician positions: [your target].
First-year technician retention: [your target].
Certifications and licenses current: [your target].
Apprentices promoted to technician: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
[4+] years of HR experience, including recruiting for skilled trades or field service roles.
Working knowledge of wage and hour rules for overtime and on-call time, I-9, workers' compensation, and FMLA where it applies.
Experience running HR across more than one location.
Experience with HR and applicant tracking software.
6. Preferred Experience
SHRM-CP or PHR certification.
Experience building apprenticeship or trade school programs.
Experience with DOT driver qualification files, if your vehicles fall under DOT rules.
7. Physical Requirements
Office work with long periods at a computer and on the phone.
Travel to branches and job sites for training and investigations.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Office-based at [headquarters], with visits to each branch.
Some early-morning hours to meet field staff before they leave for calls.
Weekday hours: [your schedule], plus some evening hiring events at trade schools.
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.
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Most HR work carries over from any trade. The refrigerant rules, the chemicals techs carry, the trucks and your state's testing law are where this job gets specific.
Keep a copy of every 608 card
Federal rules make each certified technician keep a copy of their Section 608 certificate at their place of business. They must hold onto it until three years after they stop working as a technician. Collect a copy at hire and file it where the tech works. Record the certification type in your tracker, so dispatch knows who can open which systems. Source: 40 CFR 82.161: Technician certification (eCFR).
Hazard training follows the chemicals on the truck
Under OSHA's hazard communication rule, workers get trained on the hazardous chemicals where they work. It comes at first assignment and whenever a new chemical hazard is introduced. For refrigeration techs, that means refrigerants, nitrogen for pressure tests and brazing gases. When techs start handling a refrigerant whose hazards they haven't been trained on, train them before the first job, using its safety data sheet. Source: 29 CFR 1910.1200(h): Hazard communication training (eCFR).
Iowa spells out the drug testing steps
Iowa's private-sector law says any testing must follow a written policy. The policy goes to every employee subject to testing and must be open to applicants. Supervisors involved in testing need at least two hours of training at the start and one hour each year after. Workers get a chance to report prescription or other drugs that could affect the result. Rules vary by state, so review each branch's state. Source: Iowa Code 730.5: Private sector drug-free workplaces.
Install trucks can bring federal driver files
If your box or crane trucks count as commercial motor vehicles, every driver of them needs a federal qualification file. Among the papers in it are the job application, a motor vehicle record from each licensing state, and the road test certificate or the license the company took in its place. Each year, add a fresh record check and a note that someone reviewed it. When the record comes from a screening company, the FCRA's notice and consent steps apply. Ask the office manager which trucks qualify. Source: 49 CFR 391.51: Driver qualification files (eCFR).
Recruit where refrigeration skills already sit
Look at restaurant equipment service companies, grocery chains' in-house maintenance crews, food plant refrigeration operators and veterans who serviced refrigeration in the military. School HVACR programs feed the apprentice program. Ask your lead techs who they trained with, since good names in this trade travel by word of mouth.
How much commercial refrigeration HR managers make
The closest BLS group for commercial refrigeration HR managers is human resources managers. Human resources managers who work for plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors earned a median of $132,700 a year ($63.80 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 370 of the 220,660 human resources managers in that survey work for HVAC and plumbing contractors.
Usually salaried, sometimes with a bonus tied to technician hiring and first-year retention.
HVAC and plumbing contractors
$132,700$132,700 median Middle half $110,800–$158,580 10th–90th $90,210–$198,170
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
HVAC and plumbing contractors
$90,210
$110,800
$132,700
$158,580
$198,170
All industries
$88,200
$111,110
$149,280
$199,290
$267,810
BLS doesn’t publish pay for refrigeration contractors on their own. These figures cover plumbing, heating and air-conditioning 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
Recruiting skilled field workers from a small pool
Wage and hour rules for on-call, overtime and travel time
Handling injury claims and planning light duty with doctors
Keeping files and policies the same across two branches
Calm, well-documented employee investigations
Teach these on the job
EPA Section 608 certification types and what each covers
Your state's refrigeration licensing and renewal steps
FMCSA driver file rules for your trucks
The HR, payroll and hiring systems you run
The safety training each new tech finishes before riding alone
Expect an HR system for records and onboarding, an applicant tracking system for technician hiring, and a training tracker that flags cards and licenses coming due. Many contractors use their payroll provider's HR module, so name yours.
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 scarce technicians
You need experienced refrigeration technicians, and few exist in your market. What's your plan?
A strong answer: Builds an apprentice pipeline with trade schools, targets HVAC technicians to cross-train, uses referrals and supply houses, and posts real pay, on-call and truck policies.
Behavioral · Building apprentice programs
Tell me about a program you built or improved to turn apprentices or HVAC technicians into refrigeration technicians.
A strong answer: Explains the design (school partners, ride-alongs, skills checklists, certification support), how progress was tracked, and how many apprentices advanced to technician.
The template's targets are placeholders. Set them after a year of hiring data, by branch and by role, since an installer opening and a service tech opening fill at different speeds.
Time to fill technician positions
Use the applicant tracking system to clock each opening from its approval to the day a candidate signs. Split service techs, installers and apprentices, and look at each branch apart.
First-year technician retention
Of the techs hired in a year, track how many are still here at their first anniversary. Look through exit notes for repeat reasons, like on-call load, pay or the lead they rode with.
Certifications and licenses current
From the tracker, compare the people with every required card and license current against everyone who needs one, on the same day each month. List anyone coming due next quarter.
Apprentices promoted to technician
Count apprentices who moved to technician pay and duties during the year, against those enrolled. Note why the others left or are still waiting.
Career path
Recruiter for skilled tradesFills technician and installer openings and builds school contacts.
HR generalistRuns onboarding, leave, records and the first steps of claims.
HR managerOwns hiring, policy, claims and certification tracking for both branches.
HR directorLeads people and safety for a larger contractor or a group of acquired companies.
Other roles in a commercial refrigeration business
What should HR do when a technician is badly hurt at a store?
Get the facts that day: what happened, who saw it and what equipment was involved. Ask the store for a copy of any incident report it files, and check your contract with the chain for who you must tell and how fast. Make any report OSHA requires, open the workers' compensation claim, and log the case if it's recordable. Then plan the return to work around the doctor's limits.
How much does a commercial refrigeration HR manager make?
Human resources managers who work for plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors earned a median of $132,700 a year ($63.80 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $110,800 and $158,580 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
What if a technician applicant has lost their 608 card?
EPA doesn't issue the cards and can't replace a lost one. The tech asks the organization that certified them, which has to keep records of the cards it issues. If that group has closed, EPA's page lists other routes, and a tech with no proof may have to retake the test. Settle it before the start date, so dispatch knows what the new hire can work on.
What should a new refrigeration tech's first weeks include?
Day one covers paperwork, truck and tool checkout, and the safety rules for ladders, roofs and lockout. Collect the 608 card copy and any state license. Then schedule ride-alongs with a lead on rack, walk-in and ice machine calls before the tech takes calls alone. A short check-in each week catches problems while they're small.
What should HR do when a technician loses their driver's license?
Pull them off driving right away and read your vehicle policy and your insurer's rules. If you have work that needs no truck, such as riding with a lead or shop work, offer it while the policy runs its course. Handle every case the same way, and write down what you decided and why.
