Conversion of Auxillary to Regular Positions

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: January 10, 1999
Author/Local: T. Droettboom/6254
RTS No. 00464
CC File No. 1363

TO: Vancouver City Council

FROM: General Manager of Community Services

SUBJECT: Conversion of Auxillary to Regular Positions - Carnegie Centre and
Gathering Place

RECOMMENDATIONS

A. THAT three RFT Kitchen Volunteer Leader positions, one RFT Security Attendant I position, one RFT Security Attendant II position, and one regular part time Security Attendant II position be created at the Carnegie Centre, subject to job evaluation by the General Manager of Human Resource Services, at an annualized salary and benefits cost of $186,900, to be offset by reducing the Carnegie Centre’s auxiliary staffing budget by the same amount.

B. THAT one auxiliary Cook 1 position in The Gathering Place be converted to a regular full time Cook 1 position at an annualized salary and benefits cost of $34,600, to be offset by reducing the Gathering Place’s auxiliary staffing budget by the same amount.

COUNCIL POLICY

Council approves creation and deletion of regular positions.

PURPOSE

This report recommends the conversion of auxiliary funding at the Carnegie Centre and the Gathering Place to regular full- and part-time positions. This will improve staffing consistency and continuity and thus contribute to better service. All these changes are at no net new cost.

DISCUSSION

At both the Carnegie Centre and the Gathering Place, kitchen and security services use mostly auxiliary staff. This provides some flexibility to respond to changing conditions, but at the expense of consistency, continuity and quality. As service needs become more stable, as they have over time at both centres, it makes sense to covert from auxillary to regular positions in order to improve service quality and reduce the management difficulties and overhead inherent in an auxiliary pool.

The difficulties of the present arrangement are best illustrated at the larger and busier Carnegie Centre. The kitchen has two full-time staff, serving three meals a day during the Centre’s weekday hours and twenty-one shifts are scheduled for the weekly operation (three shifts per day). Security services has forty-two shifts per week (6 shifts per day) and four full-time staff. The problems inherent in operating a total of nine shifts per day, 365 days a year, with a large number of auxiliary staff are exceptionally difficult and require excessive management attention. The variables of the street drugs, the physical neighbourhood, the abject poverty of many patrons, the related social problems, and the busyness of the centre all also argue for a more stable staffing situation than that which can be provided with auxiliaries.

Recommendation “A” requests approval to create three RFT Kitchen Volunteer Leader positions, one Security Attendant I position, one Security Attendant II position, and one regular part time Security Attendant II position (720 hours per annum) to replace current reliance on auxiliary staffing for these functions. Under the auxiliary staffing arrangement, continuity of service and assurance of service provision has suffered in a facility that serves an average of 1500 people daily between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. Reliable security, activity and kitchen staffing will ensure improved service to clients of the Centre at a time when the Downtown Eastside is particularly challenged.

The Gathering Place operates on a less ambitious schedule than the Carnegie Centre and serves a smaller, less difficult clientele. However, reliable backup and continuity in the kitchen requires more stable kitchen staffing. This will help ensure that quality meals are prepared on time. Recommendation “B” proposes a reallocation of the The Gathering Place’s auxiliary budget to fund a regular full-time cook. The Gathering Place is also looking at stabilizing its security function through the conversion of auxilary positions, but has not reached a firm conclusion at this time and may wish to report to Council later this year.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Funding of the new regular positions will be fully offset by reallocations from auxilary help budgets. There will be no net increase in the operating budgets of either the Carnegie Centre or the Gathering Place and no additional cost to the City from the proposed changes.

* * * *

Comments or questions? You can send us email.