Hello,
As I write this message, Aysa-Renée Goyer, one of our Unit Managers, is completing her second week with us, and we will welcome Karine Dumont, the second Unit Manager, on Monday, May 29th, 2023. Welcome to both of you! We waited for them for a long time, so we are very pleased to have them with us. Their roles are extremely important in the units' daily management, in supporting the multiple changes happening in the CHSLD, implementing best practices, ensuring health and safety for residents and employees, and more. They will also cover concerns that were brought up in exit interviews requesting closer management on the units to be more efficient in problem solving and supporting different situations.
For many, this transition brings a great deal of stress, worry, and insecurity, which is quite normal in periods of such major, imposed change. No one, regardless of job title, is immune to these changes, no matter if you work in the CHSLD, the RI, or the RPA. These are turbulent times, not only because we are experiencing alterations, but also because the Wales's very essence is changing.
Although the CHSLD harmonization is extremely positive in many respects, the new contract profoundly transforms the Wales. We do not talk about this metamorphosis much, but I am very aware that this shift affects many employees who are struggling to find their place in this new Wales identity. They no longer see themselves in what their employer is becoming, in addition to their work being directly affected. Please let us face facts: you are right to feel this way. A division is taking root more than ever between the CHSLD and RI/RPA. The feeling of being part of a big family is crumbling and that is frightening. Please be aware of this sensation and allow yourself to experience a sense of loss and grieve.
At the same time, we must not lose sight of the fact that, although more and more things must be implemented to create this separation, the Wales's very foundation remains unchanged. I refer to our mission and values. In these turbulent times, we must fall back on these principles, which endure. They are our bulwark through this transformation and unite us so that, togetherm we can build a new version of the Wales, which will enable usto meet our obligations our way, in the traditional Wales spirit.
We must not lose sight of the fact that we will get there together, Relying on each other will ease this process.
RECRUITMENT:
Immigration employees:
We are unable to evaluate April's ten-day strike's impact that affected federal services, including immigration. Due to this strike, we revised our strategy as our needs have changed since engaging in the recruitment process.
We might not offer jobs to the recruited immigrant employees becasue we might hire locally before they arrive. Verifications have, however, been done, and we can take this path. The recruited employees may still come to Québec, but the Wales may not be their employer. We will decide closer to their arrival.
Please see the table below for our expectations:
Job Title | Employee File with Sebasiten Aubé | Employee File with ISA Firm |
Beneficiary attendants |
|
8 should arrive next fall |
Nurses | 4 should arrive next fall. 2 dropped the process after the interview. | |
Food services attendants |
|
4 should arrive before the summer |
Maintenance worker | 1 should arrive in 8 months* |
*We decided not to persevere with these employees as the delay is too long for our needs.
Considering the following points, we decided to reopen hiring for beneficiary attendants and will post our needs for nurses on Santé Montréal:
- Our longstanding manpower needs
- Delays that keep being pushed before immigrant arrival, specifically on the clinical schedule
- Our current needs regarding the CHSLD's new budget and ratios
- The fact that, although the clinical reorganization was postponed until the end of summer, we want to be able to implement the new ratios when possible
- The fact that we can reconsider our needs when the immigrant employees are ready to come and ask for an employer change
Positions:
In the CHSLD, the Executive Assistant position is still not filled. We also need to hire a four-day per week Dietician-Nutritionist and maternity leave replacements for our Communications Technician for mid-July and our Human Resources (HR) Administrative Assistant for mid-August.
We found a second Gerontology Technician for the CHSLD. Please check the associated memo to learn more about your future colleague.
AGENDRIX:
The use of Agendrix for the pays is under fine tuning. Lots of things still must be done manually, taking a lot of time, but the tool is working fine.
CHSLD HARMONIZATION PROGRESS:
Non-clinical reorganization:
Employees on the non-clinical schedule were met with on Tuesday, May 16th, 2023 so we could share changes related to new work organization. Here are the particularly important information points that were shared:
- There will no longer be any clinical aides in the CHSLD. As you know, this change was not originally planned, but the fact that these positions fall under the non-clinical budget led us to rethink
- After discussion with Audrey, the clinical aides' tasks were reallocated to the housekeeping attendants, food services attendants, and beneficiary attendants
- There will be no split shifts in the CHSLD anymore, which increases the number of hours devoted to housekeeping, aloowing the housekeeping and food services attendants to take on certain clinical aide tasks
- The 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. food services attendants will clean wheelchairs and walkers, babies and plush animals, and commodes according to a schedule
- The 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. food services attendants are responsible for supply replenishment and putting away linens, incontinence prodcucts on Mondays and Thursdays, and personal laundry. They will also clean the laundry cart
- With these changes, we also needed to revise job titles. If fifty percent or more of a position's tasks are related to food services, their job title is food services attendant. If fifty percent or more of their tasks are related to housekeeping, their job title is housekeeping attendant
- To offer more stability, we implemented a new scheduling structure wherein full-time positions have a twin, meaning the full-time employee covers five shifts and their twin covers their two days off per week, including their weekend off
- With this new twin structure, we can ensure shifts are covered by an employee who occupies a position
- This structure differs from our current one wherein some shifts were left uncovered even when positions were filled
- For example, we have several positions where the employee's role is to replace the entire team's days off. In doing so, the employees can replace days off during the week, but can only cover one weekend on two, resulting in many weekend shifts uncovered
- For now, we maintained as many full-time positions as possible to offer them to full-time employees whose positions were abolished. Going forward, however, we are hoping to break the positions down into four-day per week positions with a twin who does the remaining three, so a Part-Time Four and a Part-Time Three instead of a Full-Time Five (FT5) and a Part-Time Two. We will not remove employees from their FT5 to make this type of change, nor will we allow employees to make agreements amongst themselves to implement these types of arrangements, but when full-time positions become available, we will evaluate how best to break them down
This meeting's information was shared via Agendrix and email on Friday, May 19th, 2023.
After the meeting, some non-clinical employees requested a follow-up meeting regarding the reorganization. To understand the needs and plan for this potential meeting, interested employees were encouraged to complete an online form or a printed form left in the CHSLD and RPA breakrooms. Employees had until Friday, May 26th, 2023 to complete the form and return to HR. Only four forms were returned. When looking at the questions, the answers had either already been discussed or will be at an upcoming meeting with Alex and Patrick. A memo was issued to inform you.
Clinical Reorganization:
As mentioned in the memo sent on Thursday, May 25th, 2023, we are in the process of finalizing the clinical reorganization in line with the new ratios and budgets. We were confident that we would be able to complete this reorganization and proceed with the implementation of the new organization in June. Unfortunately, we will not be ready to meet the deadlines as planned. There are many elements to consider in this important change and the latest budget information will be available later than expected, leaving us with not enough time to finalize our thoughts and meet with you before the vacation period begins.
Indeed, as we enter the summer vacation period in mid- to late-June, we will postpone implementation of the new clinical organization until early fall. Meetings will be scheduled in late August and early September. Until then, we will continue to work as-is with the current clinical structure. When we can do so, we will attempt to implement the new ratios. If you have any questionsm please do not hesitate to contact me or Audrey at abeauchesne@waleshome.ca or 819-826-3266 extension 224.
Working Conditions:
We started sharing the working conditions with a first meeting held on Thursday, May 18th, 2023. The PowerPoint presentations and the link for the meeting's recording were shared on Agendrix and by email on Friday, May 19th, 2023. The subjects discussed were statutory holidays, sick days, and the overtime and recall list procedures. If you were unable to attend, you might want to check the information shared, which applies as of Thursday, May 18th, 2023 and concerns the CHSLD, RI, and RPA. If you have any questions, please contact Katy at kscyr@waleshome.ca or 819-826-3266 extension 225, as she is responsible for working conditions. As mentioned during that meetingm other meetings and written information will be sent to you shortly on subjects like premiums, on-call conditions, maternity and paternity leave, other leaves, the pension plan, the remuneration procedure, and more.
Principes de déplacements sécuritaires des bénéficiaires (PDSB) Rounds:
PDSB rounds will continue in the CHSLD. As Edith, our current PDSB instructor, is now attached to the CHSLD, she will no longer conduct these rounds in the RI and RPA. For Central, Manning, and Shaw, therefore, you can forward your requests to Michael Cline at mcline@waleshome.ca or 819-826-3266 extension 241. If he is unable to respond, he will refer you to Edith. Nadia was due to become a PDSB instructor before her maternity leave, so we will update you upon her return.
STUDENTS:
A group of five LPN students from the Lennoxville Vocational Training Centre are doing their stage at the Wales since Thursday, May 18th, 2023. The students will be on-site from Monday to Friday until Friday, June 2nd, 2023.
HUMAN RESOURCES INDICATORS FROM SUNDAY, MARCH 26TH, 2023 TO SATURDAY, APRIL 22ND, 2023:
The following list contains different indicators' highlights. For more details, please see the tables below:
- Globally, we hired two new employees and eight left; we have one more LPN and Director of Nursing and three fewer food services attendants, three fewer beneficiary attendants, one fewer nurse, and one less Human Resources Officer. Five employees resigned, including two we had rehired, and one position was abolished. We are still collaborating with agencies to fill our missing shifts
- During this period, one employee tested positive for COVID-19, four less than the previous period, leading to four shifts to be replaced. This wave ended at the Wales
- We have six employees on CNESST. Five work in the CHSLD and one in the RPA/RI. ONe completed their CNESST within this period, one is back on regular duty but remains unconsolidated, and the other two are on light duty
- Compared with the last As the Wales Turns edition, shifts left uncovered increased 4.7 percent to 6.9 percent or 201 shifts. This data regarding uncovered shifts was reduced and, surprisingly, our number of uncovered shifts increased. Overall, overtime decreased and call-ins increased on the non-clinical schedule. There was also a period where non-clinical shifts were left uncovered more than usual due to the way the schedule was managed. With the new organization and our students getting abck to full availability, the issues we had should be solved for the summer. We will see in the fall with the students adjusting their availability and the immigrants' potential arrival how things will go
- We have twenty-five uncovered positions, including four in Administration. The table below shows these uncovered positions, impacts:
Clinical and Non-Clinical Schedule
Administration | Clinical and Non-Clinical Schedule | ||
Uncovered Positions | Uncovered Shifts Per Week | Uncovered Positions | Uncovered Shifts Per Week |
3 (↓1) | 15 (↓5) | 23 (↑2) | 101 (↑10) |
- There were forty-eight call-ins, a decrease of one compared with the last period
- We can see that the clinical staff and food services attendants call-ins reduced or are stable, and the housekeeping attendants and clinical aides increased significantly. Those increases cannot be explained away by sick leaves, CNESST, or COVID-19. Overall, as very few call-ins are attributable to COVID-19, since only one employee tested positive during this period, we can consider that the number of call-ins has increased compared to hte last period, which may be explained by the fact that the work on budgets and ratios took longer than expected, leading to insecurity and fluctuating commitment to the job due to uncertainty about the future and how work will be reorganized. The CHSLD harmonization, while very positive overall for the facility and its employees, represents a considerable change for the Wales, placing great demands on our ability to adapt, which may also explain the increase in call-ins
- The days with the most call-ins were:
- Friday, April 14th, 2023 with five
- Saturday, April 1st, 2023 with four
- Tuesday, March 28th, 2023, Saturday, April 8th, 2023, and Monday, April 17th, 2023 with three
- Call-ins reduced significantly on Norton 2 at the last period, but increased significantly this period
- Call-ins increased significantly on evening shift
- Overall, overtime slightly increased on the clinical schedule, decreased on the non-clinical schedule, and increased in the HR and Finance departments, related to staffing issues and the harmonization
Staff Movement:
Employees Hired | Departures | Employees on Sick Leave | Employees on Maternity Leave | Employees on CNESST, including Reassigned Pregnant Employees |
|
|
|
|
|
2 (stable) | 2 (↑6) | 8 (↓4) | 7 (stable) | 10 (↓1) |
To those numbers, we need to add one employee who was off due to COVID-19, a decrease of three. Accordingly, the number of missing shfits related to COVID-19 reduced from ten to four. Twenty-six people, a decrease of eight, therefore, were absent during this period, spread across different job titles:
- One food services attendants, stable
- Two clinical aides, a decrease of one
- Sixteen beneficiary attendants, a decrease of one
- Five LPNs, a decrease of two
- Two others, a decrease of one
As we improvedon the non-clinical schedule during the last period, this time the improvement is on the clinical schedule. Part of that improvement is related to the reduced number of COVID-19 cases and reduction of sick leaves, mainly for clinical employees.
We are pleased to welcome:
- Adil Kaliaskarov and Landon Luzano, LPNs
- Ifeyinwa Maureen Illikannu, beneficiary attendant
- Aysa-Renée Goyer and Karine Dumont, Unit Managers
Uncovered Positions:
We had the following uncovered positions:
- Three full-time Administration positions: two Unit Managers and one Executive Assistant, representing fifteen shifts per week, a decrease of five
- Five food services attendants for a total of twenty-four shifts per week (stable)
- One assistant cook for a total of five shifts per week (stable)
- One clincial aide for a total of four shifts per week (stable)
- Eleven beneficiary attendants for a total off fity-three shifts per week, an increase of two positions totalling ten shifts per week in the RPA/RI
- Two LPNs for a total of ten shifts per week (stable)
- Three nurses for a total of five shifts per week (stable)
Uncovered Shifts Comparison:
Sunday, November 6th, 2022 to Saturday, December 3rd, 2022 | Sunday, December 4th, 2022 to Saturday, December 31st, 2022 | Sunday, January 1st, 2023 to Saturday, January 28th, 2023 | Sunday, January 29th, 2023 to Saturday, February 25th, 2023 | Sunday, February 26th, 2023 to Saturday, March 25th, 2023 | Sunday, March 26th, 2023 to Saturday, April 22nd, 2023 | |
Missing shifts due to sick leave | 116 | 44 | 67 | 134 | 169 | 129 (↓24%) |
Missing shifts due to maternity leave | 123 | 128 | 128 | 102 | 121 | 121 (stable) |
Missing shifts due to preventive leave | 72 | 67 | 53 | 69 | 89 | 58 (↓35%) |
Missing shifts due to CNESST | 24 | 37 | 33 | 50 | 64 | 52 (↓19%) |
Missing shifts due to COVID-19 | 24 | 37 | 106 | 38 | 10 | 4 (↓60%) |
Total of missing shifts | 372 | 316 | 387 | 393 | 453 | 364 (↓20%) |
Total of shifts left uncovered | 74 | 85 | 98 | 120 | 132 | 201 (↑52%) |
Total shifts per month at the Wales | 2,836 | 2,836 | 2,836 | 2,836 | 2,836 | 2,916* |
Percentage of shifts left uncovered | 74/2836 = 2.6% | 85/2836 = 3% | 98/2836 = 3.5% | 120/2836 = 4.2% | 132/2836 = 4.7% |
201/2916 = 7% |
Two full-time positions were added: one employee in the Finance Department and one in the HR department following recent reorganization at the end of 2022.
Call-ins:
There were forty-eight call-ins, a decrease of one compared with the last period. Variations of fifty percent or more are highlighted below. We need to be very careful and look at the numbers and not just the percentages:
Job Title or Department | Number of Call-Ins | Unit or Department | Number of Call-Ins | Shift | Number of Call-Ins | |||
Last Period | This Period | Last Period | This Period | Last Period | This Period | |||
Housekeeping attendants | 1 | 5 (↑400%) | Norton 1 | 10 | 11 (↑10%) | Day | 34 | 26 (↓24%) |
Food services attendants | 8 | 4 (↓50%) | Norton 2 | 6 | 16 (↑167%) | Evening | 8 | 17 (↑113%) |
Clinical aides | 1 | 8 (↑700%) | Norton 3 | 16 | 11 (↓31%) | Night | 7 | 5 (↓28%) |
Beneficiary attendants | 26 | 27 (↑4%) | Central | 1 | 1 (stable) | |||
LPNs | 5 | 3 (↓40%) | Manning and Shaw 1 | 3 | 3 (stable) | |||
Nurses | 2 | 1 (↓50%) | Manning and Shaw 2 | 1 | 2 (↑100%) | |||
Other | 0 | 0 (stable) | Dining Room | 0 | 0 (stable) | |||
Kitchen | 6 | 3 (↓50%) | ||||||
Other | 3 | 1 (↓66%) |
Overtime:
Overtime percentages must be interpreted cautiously. The greater the number of hours, the more the percentage is valid:
Department* | Sunday, November 6th, 2022 to Saturday, December 3rd, 2022 | Sunday, December 4th, 2022 to Saturday, December 31st, 2022 | Sunday, January 1st, 2023 to Saturday, January 28th, 2023 | Sunday, January 29th, 2023 to Saturday, February 26th, 2023 | Sunday, February 27th, 2023 to Saturday, March 25th, 2023 | Sunday, March 26th, 2023 to Saturday, April 22nd, 2023 |
Beneficiary attendants | 349.25 | 282.5 | 500.25 | 451 | 455.75 | 557 (↑22%) |
LPNs | 125.75 | 85.5 | 159.25 | 105 | 122.5 | 124.5 (↑1%) |
Nurses | 38.75 | 56.25 | 60.25 | 75.25 | 96 | 83 (↓3%) |
Clinical aides | 19 | 27.5 | 31.75 | 7.25 | 25 | 46.75 (↑87%) |
Food services attendants | 84.5 | 50.5 | 84.25 | 86.25 | 83 | 60.25 (↓27%) |
Assistant cooks | 5 | 3 | 15.25 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 (↓350%) |
Housekeeping attendants | 21.25 | 32 | 24.25 | 17.25 | 11.25 | 20.25 (↑80%) |
Human Resources | 13.75 | 6.25 | 21 | 23.5 | 55.5 | 82.25 (↑48%) |
Therapy | 3.5 | 3 | 7.25 | 12.25 | 2.75 | 16 (↑458%) |
Activity | 4.5 | 11.5 | 2 | 4.25 | 0 | 0.5 (↑50%) |
Finance | N/A | N/A | 5.75 | 5 | 2.75 | 11.75 (↑327%) |
Maintenance | N/A | N/A | 3.25 | 0 | 2 | 11.5 (↑475%) |
*To respect confidentiality, overtime hours are not displayed for departments with a single employee, like the Purchaser or System Administrator.
Chantal Richer
Director of Administrative Services
819-826-3266 extension 274