Donna loves her job as a health care aide, but she is concerned she is being literally driven out of her job. Six years ago Donna, not her real name, was inspired watching health care aids working with her mother, who became a paraplgegic. Donna quit her job as to become a health care aide. For the last five years she has worked for We Care, a for profit company. We Care health care aides travel to work with clients in ) in Leduc, Sherwood Park, Leduc County, Strathcona County and Bonnie Doon. “I love my job.”
But Donna is worried about the future with new
changes from Alberta Health Services to We Care contract.. “Our industry is in
turmoil,” she says of the pay structure changing for caregivers Aug. 1. “Previously
we were paid for time in between clients if they could not book us back to back
shifts and we were also paid mileage for driving to and from clients homes. The
new contract that We Care has signed does not provide for call-out fees or for
mileage. We are expected to work for only the time the client has on their care
plan plus a small amount of travel time.”
What does that mean? Donna says: “The travel time
we will be compensated for is up to the discretion of each client's case
manager and is determined by distance from the closet home care office, she
says. “The most troubling thing of the travel time is that this time comes out
of the clients care time.”
An internal We Care memo Donna shared with Tait
Talk says: “If you are allocated 45 minutes for a bath assist, 35 minutes will
now be for the bath and related travel care and 10 minutes for travel.” Donna says
it is impossible to do a bath assist in 35 minutes as was the example provided
by We Care.
“Not only that we have now been told that client
will no longer have any choices for specific caregivers, times of care, and
care provided,” she says. “Whoever is available will be sent and whatever
times that caregiver have available will be the time given for care. So for my
mother that needs help to go to the washroom, she will have to wait for her
morning care and wear Depends until the caregiver can fit her in the schedule.
Unacceptable.”
Donna doesn’t fault We Care for this and thinks it
is an AHS issue.
Coming up soon: what the loss of paid mileage means
to We Care employees.