Alberta agencies face staff crisis, hard to meet government contracts

Community Action, Feb 20, 2008

Social agencies are facing a crisis in attracting and retaining staff and may have difficulty in honoring their government contracts. They need a salary increase of 16% to 25%, according to a survey conducted by the Alberta Association of Services for Children and Families.

Who Cares Alberta, a network of community human services agencies, joined the AASCF in emphasizing the critical nature of the current staffing situation, and calls on the government to address the human resources problem to avoid compromising the vital services to children and families in need.

While the petroleum boom continues to bring growing royalties and other revenues to the Alberta government, the province's social service were given funding in 2007 to increase their salaries by 3% or less.

Most agencies were able to give a 3% or less wage increase to staff. In some cases, this was distributed as a retention bonus and not part of salary increases.

The AASCF survey shows:

* 83% reported that it made no difference in their ability to recruit staff; and

* 75% reported that it made no difference in the ability to retain staff.

The agencies who are members of the AASCF (including First Nation child welfare authorities) report:

* job vacancy rates of 18.8% (620 vacancies), rising from 14.8% in 2006; and

* an annual turnover rate of 38%.

Most organizations indicate that they are concerned about their ability to honour their contracts or their ability to respond to Ministry requests. Many agencies are concerned that standards are being compromised.

The Alberta government informed other agencies, such as the Boys and Girls Clubs and the Women's Shelters, that they will receive no increase in their provincial grants this year.

Jan Reimer, Executive Director of the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters (ACWS), says, "Without a recognition that shelter salaries need to be competitive in today's Alberta, shelters will see a continued exodus of frontline workers to less demanding jobs offering more pay, better benefits and less stress."

The report concludes that "There is a need for an infusion of money for salary increases generally between 26%. AASCF recommends a minimum of 20% salary increases."

www.aascf.com