Coronavirus: Simcoe County implements plan to redeploy staff to essential roles

Simcoe County has implemented a plan to redeploy its staff to essential roles in order to address labour shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Labour shortages will likely become an issue during this developing situation,” Mark Aitken, the county’s chief administrative officer, said in a statement.

“We are doing everything we can to not only keep our tremendous staff safe, but maintain our service levels in these essential areas through staff redeployment.”

Simcoe County’s essential services include its long-term care and seriors services facilities, paramedic services, social and community services, including Ontario Works, housing, children’s services and homeless prevention.

Those services also include waste management, transit, roads, communication and customer service, business and partner support, information technology and network services, and human resources.

2:05 Ontario business closures force thousands of layoffs amid COVID-19 outbreak

A number of staff have already been redeployed or are in the process of being redeployed voluntarily. To date, officials say a small portion of staff members have chosen to take an unpaid leave of absence instead of being redeployed.

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Staff who are being redeployed are receiving training, instructed on public health guidelines and regulations, and are being provided with full personal protective equipment (PPE) as necessary.

So far, Simcoe County hasn’t made any direct staff layoffs related to COVID-19.

“We cannot rule out layoffs in the future for non-essential staff, however, we know that we will continue to face labour shortages in areas of need,” Aitken said in the statement.

“We will do everything we can to adapt and address these needs during these unprecedented times.”

Officials say employees who are able to perform their duties from home are currently working remotely full-time or on a rotation.

County officials say about 85 to 90 per cent of its 1,900 staff members are directly employed in essential service departments.

As of Thursday, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has reported 115 cases of the novel coronavirus, including five deaths. Ontario has reported 5,759 confirmed cases.