Inside the Circle – January 30, 2024

The Learning & Development team have opened up new spots for the Elder Abuse Awareness training. If you haven’t yet signed up for a spot, visit the link below:

https://circleofcare.formstack.com/forms/elder_abuse_awareness_training_2024

When picking winter footwear, think about three important things:

• Keep them dry: Wet feet are no fun in the cold! Get waterproof shoes to stay healthy in winter. Find ones that let your feet breathe but also keep them dry and toasty, even in the snow.
• Stay warm: For really chilly days, go for shoes with insulation. They might be a bit heavier, but they give your feet extra protection from super cold temperatures.
• Get grippy footwear: Choose shoes with special soles that have a rough surface and are made with certain fibres or hard particles. These give you better traction, especially on icy sidewalks. Walk with confidence!

Circle of Care requires that all PSWs and Homemakers be certified with valid and current CPR training, and that employees be properly fitted for N95 masks.
Upcoming sessions for both CPR and mask fit are available. Appointments must be booked through our vendor, First Aid Care, and can be booked online here: http://register.firstaidcare.ca/ or by calling 905-272-9214.

Important reminders – please read:

• Please arrive at the training session 15 minutes before the class begins.
• After you have booked your appointment, please speak to your Service Coordinator if you need any scheduling arrangements and have clients that you will need to be booked off from to attend the CPR and/or mask fit training. Please try to book a date/time where you do not have client visits scheduled.
• Your schedule will be blocked as ‘unavailable’ for you to attend the session. You do not need to use your phone to sign into the training.
• You will be paid a total of 4 hours for the training (CPR) and 1 hour for mask fit – this will be added to your schedule 1-2 weeks after the session has been completed and you will receive payment. The code will appear on your paystub as ‘Miscellaneous’
• All bookings/cancellations must be managed through the online portal. You will receive a confirmation email/text notification and will also receive a session reminder.

Celebrate Heart Month by prioritizing your cardiovascular health! Make simple yet impactful changes like quitting smoking, maintaining a balanced diet, getting enough sleep, regular exercise, and keeping an eye on blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Small steps can lead to a healthier, happier you. Let’s use this month to educate ourselves on heart disease risk factors and take action for a heart-healthy lifestyle!

For additional resources that focus on healthy living, please visit:

• https://www.heartandstroke.ca/healthy-living/recipes
• https://www.heartandstroke.ca/healthy-living/stay-active
• https://www.heartandstroke.ca/healthy-living/reduce-stress

I know when you refer someone, you’re supposed to get a referral bonus. I referred my friend. They’ve worked for more than 7 months already, but I haven’t gotten my referral bonus. When will I get it?

If you submitted notice of the referral in advance of the hire and your referred friend has completed their probationary period you can follow up on the status of your referral bonus at referrals@circleofcare.com

I have not seen any stat holidays posted on the app. Usually it’s there so we can choose or request which holiday we want. Also on the app, we could see how many sick days and holiday days we have left, but it’s not on the app anymore, why is that?

Thank you for reaching out. We have confirmed that the stat holidays, sick days and holidays are still available to view within the app. Please visit the following page to view a tutorial on how to see this content:

If your phone is not working (i.e. there’s a glitch with it) please contact IT to let them know and have your phone fixed.

Why can’t we get paid when we have a regular client who has a doctor’s appointment during our regular visit with them?

If a client cancels their appointment for any reason, it is reported as a cancellation to the funder and we are therefore not able to bill for the visit. We do encourage clients to make appointments outside of their visit times but this is not always possible. We do also encourage the clients to reschedule their PSW visit instead of cancelling it, but again, sometimes clients do not wish to do this.

My availability is 6 days a week. This year 2024 my health benefit was terminated due to lack of hours from last year 2023. I understand that we have to work at least 1300 hours per year. But how can I get those hours if the coordinators won’t give me the hours or clients in the availability I gave them? I have heard feedback from clients that when they asked the office for me to be scheduled visits with them, the coordinators would tell them that I am not available to work or that my schedule is full. I never get the full time hours so please don’t lie to the clients that I’m not available.

If you are not receiving enough hours, and have already spoken with your coordinator, you should escalate this so an investigation can be done to see if there are hours available in a nearby caseload. You can connect with one of the Service Coordination Supervisors – Alicia Pelletier (ext.232) or Tariq Shafi (ext. 256).

If a client requests you as their PSW and you have availability, then we make the switch for them. If this is not happening, you should escalate this for investigation. You can either reach out to Alicia (x232) or Tariq (x256). We are not trying to keep clients from having their preferred PSWs. If you are available to take the visits, we would like to assign you to these visits. It’s possible you have not updated your availability for the Service Coordinator to see. There may also be a lack of communication between you and the client, where the client is not willing to change their visit time to accommodate the time slots when you would be available.

I gave my availability for more than 40 hours, so why am I not getting 30 hours per week? Who should contact about this? Nobody answers properly.

As mentioned above, if you are not receiving enough hours, and have already spoken with your coordinator, you should escalate this so an investigation can be done to see if there are hours available in a nearby caseload. You can connect with one of the Service Coordination Supervisors – Alicia Pelletier (ext.232) or Tariq Shafi (ext. 256).

Can I be considered for the referral bonus if I didn’t fill out the referral form, and the person I referred has already been hired to work at Circle of Care?

We are required to receive notice of the referral in advance of their hire.  If you did not email your referral to referrals@circleofcare.com or submit a form then unfortunately we won’t be able to associate the hire with you as the referring employee.

This is not a question, but a comment. I read about how some clients think of us as cleaning ladies, and I hope SEIU will do better to let the people know that community personal support workers are not cleaners. It’s a common misconception in the community and some people look down on us for being community personal support workers. We do not get the respect from them.

Thank you for your feedback. It is unfortunate that there are some clients  or families who treat our PSWs poorly. We encourage you to speak to your CSS about this if you feel that a client or their family does not understand the scope of your work, or is treating you in a way that goes against our code of conduct. Your CSS is there to support you in ensuring that you can work in an environment where you are respected for the important work that you do.

I agree with the suggestion of sending flyers about our role as Personal Support Workers directly to clients, as most of our clients are seniors and this is more convenient than sending emails. Most of the time the email goes to their family or POA. Thank you for this suggestion, in this way it will at least build our morale as PSWs. We are really looking forward to this. I hope we will see one of those flyers in our clients’ homes.

Thank you for your message. We hope to put these flyers together in the coming weeks, and have something available soon. We appreciate the feedback and support for this initiative