Hello all,
Recently, we have been noticing that some of our very dedicated Direct Care Staff are taking on so much that we have become concerned about health and safety. Thankfully, nothing of consequence has occurred. However, we have dedicated a lot of energy into ensuring that everyone follows our day of rest policy, as well as a newly created Maximum Hours policy. The formal policies should have been received for your review through Viventium. Please do let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding these policies. These policies were created with Staff and clients in mind, and I do hope that is how they are received by all. Here is an excerpt of our policy:
It is important that Imagine SLS takes into consideration the safety of our employees and clients. To do so, we work together to mitigate fatigue. The first step in mitigating fatigue in the workplace environment is to identify risks that impact fatigue. Workplace environment, schedules, and staffing levels are all areas that play a role in fatigue.
Having adequate staff levels in order to complete job tasks helps to reduce added workload to an individual and minimizes effects of fatigue. Scheduled activities, their frequency, and/or deemed importance can create added stress for an employee. Providing clearly stated expectations regarding daily work, projects, response time to abnormal field events can all help to reduce fatigue and ensure that an employee is mentally prepared for the work and activities they will encounter during the day.
Imagine SLS understands that the most effective way to reduce fatigue is allowing employee time to rest. This is why Imagine SLS holds a quality standard of providing work schedules that allow for 8 hours of continuous rest for Home Support Specialists and other nonexempt employees.
On another note, we would like to remind everyone that [email protected] is available as a tool to use for caresmartz edits, such as missed clock-ins/outs that need to be added to the caresmartz360 calendars.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Best,
Patty Lopez
Assistant Director of Human Resources