Pros
Residents were friendly. Good people. Some of the core staff cared about their jobs, but seemed overworked.
Cons
Disorganized. And read on . . . I wanted to contact the CEO, Manager of Personnel (John Moore or Anne Pinter) or the lead manager for Atria Canada even, but after 30 mins. on various Atria websites and google searches I can't seem to find contact info. Where are they hiding? My daughter worked at Atria on Douglas, but resigned because front-line staff in service and housekeeping are paid min. wage, and ridiculously, are not paid a split shift 1 hour wage for having to hang around between meal services. (Not illegal in BC, but exploitative, knowing other jurisdictions' labor laws that require split shift premium pay that Atria operates in). This facility is located almost 1 km from a bus stop, so my daughter had to walk at night (after dinner service) to a lonely stop on what is essentially a highway. The workers here are mostly young people. The saddest part is she liked the work and the residents, and as a part-time university student in social work, is interested in senior care. She is an excellent worker. For any retirement facility, the buck stops at the front line staff that interact daily with residents. Those are the dining and housekeeping staff. Paying min. wage and not providing more considerate methods of "helping" these young workers by providing split shift premiums or a bonus for hard work is not kosher. For example, one time she was the only person who showed up for a meal service shift. She and the site manager did the whole service themselves. She run ragged and was simply told thanks a lot. Earnings: $21 (before deductions) for 2 hours of work that takes 45 mins each way by bus to get to work for this shift. She has now found another job as a cashier at a small owner-operated grocery store for $2 more per hour than Atria pays. A grocery store! With single digit profit margins! To me that is sad. Sad for her. Sad for Atria to not recognize or have ways to "stay on top" of valuing their front line staff more. Staff with potential. PS) She was scared to say anything, because she wants a good reference.
