WELLINGTON COUNTY – Some municipal employees across the county are out of a job – at least temporarily – as part of the fallout of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Part-time employees in Centre Wellington and Mapleton are among those affected, while most municipalities in Wellington are delaying or cancelling the hiring of summer students/employees.
Centre Wellington
Centre Wellington CAO Andy Goldie said on April 2 the township has “suspended employment” of temporary and part-time employees in an effort to watch finances and be socially responsible while physical distancing requirements are in effect.
He did not say how many employees are affected.
“It is unfortunate that there has been a temporary suspension in employment for some township staff during the declared emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Goldie stated.
He added the township will also delay hiring summer students and filling vacant positions.
“All of our full-time staff continue to do their regular job roles in supporting the community and will be available for re-deployment,” stated Goldie.
Erin
Jessica Spina, spokesperson for the Town of Erin, said all municipal staff are on the job there – either working from home or, for outside workers, taking extra precautions such as staggered start times and working further apart as they do their jobs.
Spina said lay-offs “haven’t been in any talks” thus far in Erin.
Guelph-Eramosa
Mayor Chris White said seasonal winter staff contracts expired as usual at the end of March, and the hiring of summer staff is on hold.
“There’s no intention of bringing them on at this point,” White said on April 2.
But, he added, all regular Guelph-Eramosa staff members remain employed.
“We’re not that big to begin with … at this point we’re maintaining everyone,” White said, noting some employees are still coming into the office, while others are working from home.
“Oddly enough, everyone’s busy … we’re carrying on the business of the township.”
Mapleton
Mapleton CAO Manny Baron said the township has not laid off any permanent full-time workers, however all part-time/contract employees have been relieved of their duties.
“We will not be hiring any summer students this year,” Baron added.
The office hours for the administrative staff have been reduced to 10am to 4pm daily.
“Also, we are taking this opportunity to cross train staff in case they are needed in other departments as this pandemic continues to evolve,” Baron noted.
Minto
All permanent full-time Town of Minto Workers are still working full time, said Minto CAO Derrick Thomson.
However, the municipality has made a number of adjustments in staff deployment in response to the COVID-19 situation.
Contracts for winter control operators have ended as usual and the town has “pushed back our summer hiring.”
Essential work in the fire, water and wastewater departments continues and, “We’ve deployed staff in such a way that we keep them social distancing and they’re in teams … If one group goes down and has to be quarantined, we have another group that can come in,” said Thomson.
“We’ve taken that model and we’ve deployed it across the organization.”
Thomson said the municipality is fortunate to have sufficient technology to allow people to work from home.
“So were going to continue to do that but re-evaluate as of the end of April … We’re going to re-evaluate what that looks like,” he explained.
“As you can imagine, we’ve still got lots going on. We’re just closing the public-facing portion of the business.”
Puslinch
Glenn Schwendinger, CAO for the Township of Puslinch, said layoffs haven’t occurred there yet.
“I can confirm to you that Township of Puslinch staff are continuing to work to provide our community with municipal services and no layoffs have been made,” he stated in an email.
Wellington North
Mayor Andy Lennox said the only staff change in Wellington North is the end of contracts for winter seasonal staff, which occurs annually around this time.
“We’re going to take this day by day,” he told the Advertiser, conceding that things are changing so rapidly during the COVID-19 crisis that it’s hard to plan for anything.
Lennox said staff are maintaining core municipal services while also heeding advice from health experts, including distancing and sanitization.
Wellington County
County of Wellington CAO Scott Wilson said all permanent county employees remain on the payroll.
“Up to and including May 31, staff in every department will be kept whole based on their regular work schedule,” Wilson explained.
The expectation of being available for regular shifts and re-deployment to another position/shift continues, Wilson adds.
The CAO noted seasonal drivers in the roads department will all be released by April 5 as scheduled. The county will also delay hiring summer students until at least May 1.
“We know that these young people will be relying on their employment with us to fund their fall schooling, and I sincerely hope we can bring them all on sometime this spring,” Wilson stated.
He noted the county will be contacting students to notifying them of the change and providing information on how to access federal and provincial support.
The county currently has 19 vacant positions that will remain vacant on a case-by-case basis “for the foreseeable future,” Wilson stated. Positions governed by contracts will also be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and contracts expiring before the end of May will be allowed to do so. Contracts expiring after May 31 will be continued until further notice.
“Thanks to all our front line workers. Your combined efforts result in better care for our residents, our clients, and our customers, and ensures that the health of the community is protected. I appreciate your dedication,” stated Wilson in an April 2 update to county staff.
“Thank you to those able to work from home – I know it is less than ideal, and that you may not feel that you are contributing in the way you’d like, but you are helping to keep the county running, and that is important.”
Guelph
On April 2 the City of Guelph announced it is temporarily laying off 601 casual, part-time employees.
“Our employees are the heart of our organization,” said Scott Stewart, CAO of Guelph.
“This is not an action we wanted to take, but one we needed to as COVID-19 continues to affect our community and some of the services we’re able to deliver.”
Officials say the layoffs, made in response to “extended closures and the suspension of non-essential services,” affect employees who deliver recreation programs, school crossing guards, some library workers, and others.
Orangeville
The Town of Orangeville announced on April 3 it is laying off 143 employees.
Affected are casual and part-time employees in the areas of recreation and events, libraries, crossing guard services, and recreation facility support.
“In an unprecedented time, we have been called upon to make a very difficult and unprecedented decision,” said Orangeville CAO Ed Brennan.
