FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 30, 2020

COUNTY CONTINUES TO REDEPLOY STAFF DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

WELLINGTON COUNTY, ON – The County of Wellington continues to actively redeploy available staff to the Wellington Terrace Long Term Care Home and to assist at County Child Care Centres currently providing emergency child care for health care workers and first responders.
The County currently employs approximately 925 people. All winter seasonal positions have now concluded, and summer student hiring is on hold. The County has also halted recruitment for position vacancies unless deemed essential.

Almost half of the County’s employees work at either Wellington Terrace (approximately 316) or in the Children’s Early Years Division (approximately 122). Many services provided by the County are considered essential and have continued during this time on either a full or modified basis. There are only 13 full-time employees from other Departments who are unable to perform their daily work from home, due to the nature of those positions. Ten of those 13 have been redeployed to assist at Wellington Terrace along with several other Part-time staff members. Many other County employees have opted to take a leave of absence during this time.

“It’s essential that we continue to keep all available employees on a rotating redeployment schedule,” said Warden Kelly Linton. “All available staff will be redeployed to Wellington Terrace and/or our emergency Child Care Centres to assist with screening, cooking, housekeeping and other administrative duties as required.”

“If an employee was to test positive for COVID-19 at either Wellington Terrace or one of our Emergency Child Care Centres, multiple employees would need to be off in self-isolation simultaneously for an extended period of time,” said Susan Farrelly, Director of Human Resources. “There would be a real ripple effect if more than one employee providing essential service tested positive. We need to ensure for service continuity purposes that we have staff members ready and available for redeployment at any time.”

For the most updated information, please visit: www.wellington.ca or check our social media platforms. For additional information on COVID-19, please visit www.wdgpublichealth.ca.

Media, please contact:
Andrea Ravensdale, Communications Manager
T 519.546.7578
E andrear@wellington.ca