Woolwich Township puts 150 employees on unpaid leave

Rather than issue layoffs, Woolwich has put some 150 part-time and casual staff members on unpaid leave in response to the coronavirus-related shutdown of many frontline services.

The move protects the jobs of township employees such as lifeguards, facility attendants, concession workers and crossing guards, said chief administrative officer David Brenneman.

The township has maintained its complement of full-time employees and the majority of permanent part-time staff members, he added, noting most are working from home.

“Our goal is and has been to ensure continuity of critical services to the public, while balancing fiscal responsibility with fairness to township employees,” he said in an email. “In terms of fiscal responsibility, the township appreciates that the pandemic has created economic uncertainty and financial strain on many of our community’s businesses and residents, and as such difficult but necessary staffing decisions were made.”

The township has extended closures of all its facilities. The emergency-leave provisions for employees extends largely to those in recreation services, as the arenas, pool and parks are all idle due to measures put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19.

In Wellesley, there have been no layoffs, though the closure of recreation facilities will have an impact on seasonal workers.

“We have deferred hiring part-time summer staff and have made arrangements that outside full-time workers can stage start times so they can work alone,” said Mayor Joe Nowak, noting

wider layoffs have been discussed as part of the response to the pandemic.

With the crisis dragging on and longer shutdowns of services decreed by the province, the cities in the region have now announced layoffs of parttime and casual workers. The City of Kitchener temporarily laid off 842 employees, announcing 82 seasonal workers will not be on the job.

As of Monday, 436 City of Waterloo workers will be on temporary leave, while Cambridge has announced its laying off 440 employees. In Guelph, the number of part-time employees given layoff notices hit 601.