THANK YOU:
Hi fellow coworkers,
I hope you are having a great summer and enjoying the warm weather!
As tough times continue both in our world and our workplace, I know many of you feel frustrated, stressed, and even overwhelmed. I completely understand and, although this sentiment may be a cliché, I want you to remember that this hardship too shall pass. We will get through this challenge together; better times are ahead!
Despite the above, you continue to show up to work and do your jobs with grace and compassion; I cannot thank you enough! The Wales continues to have zero positive COVID-19 cases, our residents are cared for, and their families are reassured because of you!
In fact, many of you have not missed a single day of work this year! As such, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight each one of you for your outstanding dedication! A huge thank you to the following people for their perfect attendance:
- Glenna Coburn
- Cathy Frank
- Joanne Goorts
- Laura Laprise
- Darlene Stevens
- Bonnie Smith
- Heather Griffith
- Brenda Brock
- Krenda Lancaster
- Joey Beaudet
- Rhoda Blake-Hudson
- Lisa Crosby
- Brenda McCourt
- Camille Pearson
- Susan Hannan
- Joanne Besmargian
- Bridget Taylor
- Evan Taylor
- Rebecca Caron
- Johanna Dubois
- Ellen Sager
- Andrea Blouin
- Tammy Blais
- Benoit Beauchemin
- Flean Baou
- Jacques Brugger
- Rebecca Gilchrist
- Caroline Dubé
- Igor Shevelkov
- Ariane Blom
- Marisa Goorts
- Elizabeth Savage
- Jenny Keenan
- Fabio Ardila
- Kayla Long
- Ashley Symes
- Richard Perron
- Lucie Langlois
- Noémi Blom
- Megan Oakley
- Mary Evans
- Julie Clifford
- Eva Quinn
- Jade Quinn
- Chona Medilo
- Amanda Blouin-Cookman
- Tina Jeanson
- Loralie Beaupré-Lévèsque
- Emily Evans
- Xavier Porier
- Princess Anne Abbang
- Claire Menard
- Melissa Coddington
- Sara Bourget
- Amanda Gaulin
- Allen Baldwin
- Serge Jeanson
- Xavier Rousseau
- Carol Ann McElrea
- Zach Fry
- Véronique Guay
- Alain Therrien
- Kim Bailey
- Edith Bourassa
- Tristan Bresse
- Amanda Gunter
- Lorena Fajardo
- Chase Clifford
- Pauline Jubinville
- Rebecca Taylor
- Courtney Grainger
- Kristie Wright
Please keep up the amazing work!
ECHELON AND PREMIUM INFORMATION:
Please note that the COVID-19 premiums' statuses are as follows:
- The eight percent premium for LPNs and nurses is still active
- This premium appears on the second week of your pay stub as "% Pr. COVI" and covers the total for both weeks
- The four percent premium for non-clinical employees is still active
- This premium appears on the second week of your pay stub as "% Pr. COVI" and covers the total for both weeks
- The $4.00 per hour premium for caregivers ended on June 30th and was replaced with the new $21.27 per hour base salary.
- As per our current echelon scale, PABs on echelons one and two are paid $20.55 per hour and $20.98 per hour respectively. Any caregiver on echelons one or two will, therefore, be adjusted to $21.27 per hour. PAB echelons three to five range from $21..42 to $22.53, therefore there will be no changes in their salaries.
- The salaries will be adjusted and inclded on subsequent pays. Retroactive payments for the period covering July 1st to July 4th were included on the July 23rd pay.
- Any facility that is unable to pay their caregivers the minimum salary set by the Government of $21.27 per hour will be subsidized. For example, if a CHSLD pays their caregivers $15.27 per hour, the government will reimburse them the $6.00 per hour per caregiver difference.
- The $100.00 per week premium for full-time employees is still active
- We had originally been told that this premium ended on June 30th, which was a miscommunication
- Full-time employees will receive the $100.00 per week premium on subsequent pays. Retroactive payments for the period covering July 1st to July 4th were included in the pay issued on July 23rd.
- Employees must work at least 36.25 hours per week in order to receive this premium. Only days actually worked count, so stat days and personal days are inadmissible
- This premium appears on your pay stub each week as "Pr. 100$/s"
- The Government promises new CHSLD caregivers $26.00 per hour. We do not know how this salary will impact the new salary scales. If we consider, however, the minimum hourly rate for caregivers of $21.27 plus the $100.00 per week full-time premium, which equals $2.76 per hour, plus a $2.00 per hour premium for night shift, this equates to $26.03 per hour or $49,000.00 annually.
Additionally, the Wales offers a $1.00 premium for evening shifts and a $2.00 premium for night shifts. The only other difference in hourly rates for two people working the same job is based on years of service and experience. As per Remuneration Policy 2.2, employees increase a maximum of one echelon per year and only once they have completed 1,100 hours from July to June. If the employee did not complete 1,100 hours within the year, their hours are carried over to the next year. As per new regulations, the only exception is nurses who will now increase echelons every six months until they reach echelon eight, at which time they will increase a maximum of one echelon per year like other positions. The Wales matches public sector rates for all job categories, which can be found here.
As of July 1st, 2020, employees who were not already on top echelon and who met the required 1,100 hours worked received a new echelon last pay. As you know, however, we have not yet distributed the echelon increase letters or issued a cost of living raise because the Government has not yet reached an agreement on the 2020 salary increases. As such, the public sector employees have not received any salary increase this year either, except the COVID-19 premiums. As soon as the new agreement is finalzied, we will implement these new echelons and distribute the increase letters.
RECRUITMENT:
As we continue to work hard on recruiting new employees, I thought I would share some interesting information with you. With help from Courtney Grainger, the visibility of our external job postings has grealty improved. For example, in the past months, Courtney has published four job postings (Clinical Aide, Caregiver, LPN, and Nurse) on our social media platforms. On Facebook, these postings received a combined 106 shares and reached 7,325 people. 226 more people saw these postings on Instagram, 114 on LinkedIn, and 3,936 on Jobillico. Additionally, as I write this entry, our website has thrity visits to our "Careers" section, fifteen to our caregiver posting, three to our LPN posting, and two to our Nurse posting in the last week alone.
Like may other healthcare facilities, however, we still face a scarcity of clinical workers. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has compounded this issue, leaving us in a crisis. What are we doing about this problem? We continue to exhaust recruitment strategies and scour the market for new employees, we reach out to recently retired healthcare workers, we signed a contract with the Continuum Agency who will send us employees as needed, and we asked our non-clinical workers to temporarily become Clinical Aides during this crisis.
STAGES:
I am happy to announce that, starting in August, the Wales will host final-year LPN students from the Lennoxville Vocational Training Centre for their stages. Here are some basic details about each stage:
- August 19th to September 3rd: Six students will be present for their Geriatric Care Stage
- September 3rd to September 17th: Seven students will be present for their Basic Care Stage
- October 13th to November 2nd: Six students will be present for their Rehabilitation Stage, during which they will primarily work with the Therapy Department
- November 3rd to November 23rd: Six students will be present for their Rehabilitation Stage
- December 7th until December 22nd: Three students will be present for their Integration Stage
Each group will be lead by instructor Becky Lefebvre, who many of you know from past stages at the Wales. Prior to each stage, I will send out a reminder memo in which I will include the stage objectives. We also hope to recruit these students when they complete their course in December.
NEW EMPLOYEES:
I am pleased to welcome a few new employees to the Wales team!
- Sara Bourget started working as a Clinical Aide
- Judy Michaud stated working as a Caregiver
- Lucie Corriveau started working in the non-clinical department
Welcome! We are happy to have you on our team.
Sydney Grainger
Human Resources Officer - Employee Relations Coordinator & Hiring Manager
819-826-3266 extension 223