It's another day of business at AiMHi, but it is not business as usual.
Human resources policies don't usually cause a stir outside of the organization in question, but the hundreds of employees at the social development agency are being affected by this new direction and the ripple effect will be felt across the local economy.
It has been AiMHi's policy for about the last 60 years to keep their pool of employees hired on a casual basis. The decision has been made to make a large number of those positions into permanent full-time or part-time jobs. It might seem like small strokes of the pen but senior management and the board of directors believes it will change the agency from top to bottom, especially improving the experience for the people who utilize their services.
AiMHi's core service is looking after people with disabilities but there are many other elements of the organization.
"Casual workers are on call 24-7 and that's not an ideal way to structure your family or your lifestyle," said AiMHi's human resources manager Fraser Deacon. "Casual employees are perpetually on the go, looking for other work to perpetuate their life. It lacks certainty. The new positions will have benefits, structured hours, the employees can stay with us and not feel the rub to be on the lookout for other employment that has added benefits and more certainty."
Colleen Fitzpatrick, AiMHi's director of human resources, said this was going to give the agency a competitive advantage for attracting and retaining employees. It was also intended to make for a workforce that would pass on their positive feelings to the people for whom they provide service.
"We work with premature babies right up to senior citizens," said Fitzpatrick. "We have 30-plus houses on our residential care side, we have employment programs, children's services, about 40 programs altogether. We have in the neighbourhood of 460 employees and we provide support for close to 1,000 people in our community one way or another. We work with a lot of other not-for-profit and social services agencies, so we play an important role in our community and we think this is going to be a very positive step with impacts across the full spectrum of what we do."
Employees that work 20 hours or more per week will be eligible for benefits, under the new arrangement, and those who work 30 or more per week will officially be classified as full-time workers.
The positions will all be put up for application. Casual workers already in AiMHi's employ will be given the opportunity to sign up for the available jobs and with their experience and working knowledge of AiMHi, they would be leading candidates.
It is also a chance for anyone else in the community to apply if interested. AiMHi is a workplace affiliated with the BCGEU. Their wages are higher than minimum wage, much of the training for their jobs is paid for by the agency and they enjoy a low turnover rate for most of their positions.
Two job fairs will be held to meet with potential applicants and provide information about the new way of hiring, training and retaining employees at AiMHi. Anyone interested in opportunities within the organization can attend the fairs, resume in hand, Aug. 10, 2-6 p.m. at the AiMHi headquarters at 950 Kerry St.
