HR Leaves and Workers' Compensation Supervisor

About The Role

The Opportunity 

The San Francisco Department of Public Health operates one of the nation’s most complex and integrated public health systems. DPH is seeking an experienced HR Leaves and Workers’ Compensation Supervisor to drive operational excellence and deliver responsive, employee-centered service across these complex programs. The position will lead program operations, strengthen customer service, improve coordination, and ensure the consistent administration of applicable laws, policies, and employee protections.

This role offers an opportunity to make a meaningful department-wide impact by improving how employees and managers experience HR services when navigating leave, workplace injuries, and return to work. The HR Leaves and Workers’ Compensation Supervisor leads a team of HR professionals and serves as a consultant, advisor, and subject-matter expert.

Key Responsibilities: 

Essential duties include: 
Driving operational excellence across the Leaves Management and Workers’ Compensation Program. 
Establishing program priorities, service standards, procedures, and effective workload practices. 
Improving the customer experience through clear communication, responsive service, and consistent guidance for employees and managers. 
Advising employees, managers, executives, and HR partners on leave and workers’ compensation laws, policies, and procedures. 
Providing guidance on complex matters involving employee leave, workplace injuries, disability accommodation, temporary modified duty, and return to work. 
Developing and delivering training that strengthens understanding, consistency, and effective program administration. 
Leading continuous-improvement initiatives that enhance timeliness, accessibility, compliance, and service quality. 
Using data, performance measures, and operational insights to identify trends, manage risks, and improve program outcomes. 
Reviewing complex workers’ compensation cases and coordinating early intervention, temporary modified duty, accommodation consideration, and return-to-work planning. 
Building effective partnerships with the Department of Human Resources, the City’s workers’ compensation administrator, occupational safety and health staff, and other departmental partners. 
Preparing reports and briefings for executive leadership and representing DPH before regulatory bodies or in external proceedings. 
Supervising, coaching, and developing program staff while fostering an inclusive, collaborative, accountable, and customer-focused team culture. 
The HR Leaves and Workers’ Compensation Supervisor may perform other duties as assigned or required, including duties listed in the applicable  class specification .

Education : Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.

Experience : Five years of professional human resources experience in one or more of the following areas of activity: recruitment and selection; classification and compensation; employee and/or labor relations; benefits administration; human resources operations; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and personnel training of which one year must have been as (1) an advanced journey level classification, similar to 1244 Senior Human Resources Analyst, that performs difficult and specialized human resources work and thereby serves as a resource for special problems , or (2) lead or supervised a small team of professional staff involved in the more difficult and complex matters associated with recruitment and selection; employee and/or labor relations; classification and compensation; benefits administration; human resources operations; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and personnel training.

Substitution

Experience Substitution - Possession of a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) or a Master’s degree in Personnel Administration, Human Resources Management, Business Administration, Public Administration or Clinical/School/Industrial-Organizational Psychology may be substituted for one (1) year of the required non-advanced journey / non-lead/supervisory experience.
Education Substitution - Verifiable professional human resources work experience in one or more of the following areas may substitute for up to two (2) years of the required education on a year-for-year basis: recruitment and selection; classification and compensation; employee and/or labor relations; benefits administration; human resources operations; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and personnel training. (30 semester units/45 quarter units equal one year.)
Experience Substitution - Completion of a 12 month human resources trainee program equivalent to the City and County of San Francisco’s 1249 Human Resources Training Pro-gram may substitute for one (1) year of the required non-advanced journey / non-lead/supervisory experience.

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.
One-year full-time employment is equivalent to 2,000 hours (2,000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week). 
Desirable Qualifications:

Is an operational leader committed to service excellence and meaningful impact. 
Leads with an employee-centered and customer-focused approach. 
Brings strong knowledge of leave and workers’ compensation programs. 
Exercises sound judgment in complex, confidential, and sensitive matters. 
Communicates clearly and builds trust with employees, managers, executives, and external partners. 
Uses data and performance insights to improve services and outcomes. 
Builds strong cross-functional partnerships and drives coordinated action. 
Balances strategic thinking with operational detail, accountability, and follow-through. 
Leads change, develops staff, and creates a culture of continuous improvement.

Verification of Education and Experience:  

Every application is reviewed to ensure that you meet the minimum qualifications as listed in the job ad. Review  SF Careers Employment Applications  for considerations taken when reviewing applications.  

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

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. 

Selection Procedures : 

After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following. 

Supervisory Test Battery (STB) - Weight: 50%

Candidates will be invited to participate in a computer-based examination designed to measure competencies in job-related areas which may include but not be limited to: Problem Solving; Leadership; Decision Making; Interpersonal skill; Human Resources Management; Team Building; Communication & Conflict Management. For more information about this Supervisory Test (and a suggested reading list) please visit:  Supervisory Test Battery | SF.gov  

2.  Multiple-Choice, Technical Knowledge Exam (Generalist/Operations) - Weight: 50%

Candidates deemed eligible and admitted to the selection process will be administered a written multiple-choice test designed to measure knowledge, skills and/or abilities in job-related areas. These include but are not limited to: principles, concepts, procedures and/or practices related to job classification, job specifications, minimum qualifications, job analysis, recruitment, test construction and administration, discipline, grievances, investigations, employee performance evaluations, pre-employment, probationary periods, employee leave, harassment, and EEO and ADA laws, as well as analysis, quantitative ability, basic computer use (e.g., Outlook, WORD, Excel, PowerPoint) and the ability to interpret data in tables, graphs and charts.

The above multiple-choice test components are standardized exam and, therefore, test questions and test answers are not available for public inspection or review.

Score Banking:   Your scores from the supervisory test battery (STB) and the Multiple-Choice, Technical Knowledge Exam (Generalist/Operations) (HR Exam)  will be 'banked' for three years from the test date. Your STB and HR Exam scores will be used for one year on any job you apply to and qualify for that uses the same assessment. After one year, and before three years, if you apply to and qualify for any job using the same assessment, you may choose to (a) apply your banked test score or (b) re-test. If you retest, your most recent score becomes your official score. 

*A passing score on the Supervisory Test Battery and the Multiple-Choice, Technical Knowledge Exam (Generalist/Operations) must be achieved in order to be placed/ranked on the Eligible List. Candidates will be placed on the eligible list in rank order according to their final score.

Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions. 

Certification  

The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be the Rule of 10 Scores.  

Eligible List/Score Report : 

A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established, so applicants can view the ranks, final scores and number of eligible candidates. Applicant information, including names of applicants on the eligible list, shall not be made public unless required by law. However, an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection, upon request, once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved. The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g., as a result of appeals), as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission. 

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be of  6 months  and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director. 

The eligible list resulting from this recruitment may be utilized to fill future and current vacancies in this class at other locations within the DPH for the duration of the eligible list. 

To find Departments which use this classification, please see the city’s   Position Counts by Job Codes and Departments.   

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights:  

Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. Clerical errors may be corrected by the posting the correction on the Department of Human Resources website at  https://careers.sf.gov/ . 

The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 111A.35.1. The standard for the review of such appeals is ‘abuse of discretion’ or ‘no rational basis’ for establishing the position description, the minimum qualifications and/or the certification rule. Appeals must include a written statement of the item(s) being contested and the specific reason(s) why the cited item(s) constitute(s) abuse of discretion by the Human Resources Director. Appeals must be submitted directly to the Executive Officer of the Civil Service Commission within five business days of the announcement issuance date. 

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
Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams
Right to Work
Copies of Application Documents
Diversity Statement

Where to Apply  

All job applications for the City and County of San Francisco must be submitted through our online portal. Please visit  https://careers.sf.gov/  to begin your application process.  

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment. Please consider using a personal email address that you check regularly rather than a work or school account. 

Computers are available for the public (9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday) to file online applications in the lobby of the Dept. of Human Resources at 1 South Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor and at the  City Career Center at City Hall , 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 110. 

Ensure your application information is accurate, as changes may not be possible after submission. Your first and last name must match your legal ID for verification, and preferred names can be included in parentheses. Use your personal email address, not a shared or work email, to avoid unfixable issues. 

Applicants will receive a confirmation email from  [email hidden]  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, Heather Johnson at [email hidden] or (628) 271-6706 .  

We may use text messaging to communicate with you on the phone number provided in your application. By applying, you accept the  Trust and Privacy Policy  and you may opt out of text messaging anytime. 

POSITION #: 01134578

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.