NJ Civil Service Navigator

Maintenance Worker Family

Career series with 7 positions across 3 levels

In New Jersey civil service, Maintenance Worker names a 3-level progression covering 7 distinct titles.

Entry is typically through Maintenance Worker 1, advancing through the ladder toward Maintenance Worker 3 Grounds. Pay across the family spans $38,641 to $60,577, around the 3rd percentile of all civil service job families by top pay. State payroll records show 31 people across the family's titles, most concentrated at Environmental Protection.

Maintenance Worker reports to supervising titles such as Senior Traffic Maintenance Worker/Sign Maker.

7
Positions
3
Career Levels
3
Specializations
Salary Range: $38,641 - $60,577/year

Specializations

Grounds Grounds / Maintenance Repairer Transportation

Positions in This Family

What the Maintenance Worker family covers

New Jersey classifies Maintenance Worker as a 3-level series holding 7 separate title codes. The family straddles jurisdictions: 4 state, 2 local, and 1 both state and local, so parts of it are hired by state departments and parts by local civil service employers.

Skilled and semi-skilled labor is the part of the classification plan that never moved to a degree. Qualification rests on demonstrated ability, and for a great many of these titles the operative credential is a valid New Jersey driver's license of the right class rather than a diploma. The work is also the most physically specific in the plan, which is why the specifications read as lists of tasks and equipment instead of the general responsibility language used elsewhere. Because public works, water and sewer utilities, parks and school plants each run their own yards, near-identical jobs end up as separate title codes in separate places.

The ladder, ordered by pay

Sorted by pay instead of by title number, the Maintenance Worker family stacks up as follows. Note that the numbers in these titles do not run in pay order. In this family a lower number sits higher on the ladder, which is a New Jersey convention that catches people out when they read a title list top to bottom.

The distance from the bottom of Maintenance Worker 2 to the top of Maintenance Worker 2 Grounds is $21,936, an increase of about 57% over the entry minimum.

What each title does

The specifications themselves are the clearest guide to what separates these titles. Here is how each one opens.

  • Maintenance Worker 2 Grounds: Under direction, performs more complex work in the care and maintenance of outdoor areas such as gardens, park grounds, recreational areas, lawns, athletic…
  • Maintenance Worker 1 Grounds / Maintenance Repairer: Under direction, performs routine work in the care and maintenance of outdoor areas such as gardens, park…
  • Maintenance Worker 3 Grounds: Under direction, takes the lead over a team of grounds maintenance workers; performs more complex work in the care and maintenance of outdoor areas such as…
  • Maintenance Worker 1, Transportation: Under supervision, in the Department of Transportation, performs unskilled or semi-skilled manual work involved in state highway maintenance…
  • Maintenance Worker 2: Under supervision of a Maintenance Worker 1 or other supervisory official in a state department, institution, or agency, improves and maintains the physical condition…
  • Maintenance Worker 1: Under direction of a supervisory official in a state department, institution, or agency, improves and maintains the physical condition of state property primarily by…

Getting in: the stated requirements

None of the specifications in this family names a degree requirement, which places these titles among the New Jersey positions open to applicants without formal higher education. Stated experience runs from 1 year at the lowest rung to 2 at the highest, which is the main thing separating one level from the next.

1 of the 7 titles carry a license or certification requirement. On how the jobs are filled: 4 are competitive, filled from an eligible list after an open competitive or promotional examination and 3 are non-competitive, appointed on proof of the stated qualifications rather than by examination. 1 title in this family is covered by the compendium's special incentive program, which lets an appointing authority hire a qualified candidate above the bottom step instead of starting them at step one. See the full list of incentive titles.

Who actually employs these titles

31 people appear on the state payroll under 1 of these title, at 1 agency. Environmental Protection alone accounts for about 100% of them.

  • Environmental Protection — 31 employees

Median actual pay for Maintenance Worker 1 is $45,770, which is what people in the title are really paid rather than the published band.

State payroll only, deduplicated by payroll title; local employers file separately, so a family with local codes looks smaller here than it is. How this is counted.

How the pay is set

The family is split across 2 salary schedules (A-P-R-S and C-I-O), so two titles that look adjacent can be paid from different tables with different step structures. Bargaining is handled by IFPTE. Union contracts and rights are collected here.

Where these jobs exist

Because the family mixes jurisdictions, the answer to "who hires this" depends on the specific code. State codes run through the Civil Service Commission's announcement and eligible list process; local codes are hired by the counties, municipalities and authorities that adopted civil service under Title 11A. Check an employer's status before assuming a title is available where you live.

Related titles elsewhere in the plan

Nearby in the plan, ranked by how distinctive the shared terms are rather than by how many words happen to match.

Families next to this one

New Jersey's classification plan links families by shared terminology and by the routes people actually take between them. These sit closest to Maintenance Worker.

Common questions about Maintenance Worker jobs

How many separate Maintenance Worker classifications does New Jersey have?

The Maintenance Worker family holds 7 title codes arranged across 3 levels. Each code is a separate classification with its own published specification, requirements and salary treatment.

How much is a Maintenance Worker paid?

Published salary data for this family runs from $38,641 at the bottom of Maintenance Worker 2 to $60,577 at the top of Maintenance Worker 2 Grounds. Those are schedule figures. Where the title appears on the state payroll, actual median pay is listed on the page above.

Is there a civil service test for Maintenance Worker?

Yes for most of the family. 4 of the 7 titles are in the competitive division, which means appointment comes from an eligible list built by an open competitive or promotional examination.

What are the requirements to become a Maintenance Worker?

No degree requirement is parsed from the specifications in this family, which puts these titles among the New Jersey civil service jobs reachable without formal higher education. Experience of 1 to 2 years is named where a requirement is stated. 1 of the titles require a license or certification.

Which agencies employ Maintenance Worker staff?

State payroll records show 31 people in this family across 1 agency, with Environmental Protection the largest at 31. Local government employers are not covered by that extract.

Is Maintenance Worker 1 higher or lower than Maintenance Worker 3?

In this family the lower number is the more senior title. New Jersey's level numbering does not run in pay order, and reading the titles by number alone will give you the ladder upside down. The list above is sorted by what each title actually pays.