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WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY., rEPTEMBF.R 30. 1987, PAGE 27 WH IER A By BRIAN WINTER The human resources depar- tment at Whitby General Hospital is much more than a personnel of- fice for it is involved in all aspects of employee relations. Since 1981, the department's director has been Steve Barry, who has 14 years of experience in per- sonnel work. For five years before joining the staff of the hospital, he was personnel manager at Fisher Scientific, a laboratory and science supply distribution facility in Whit- by. Barry describes a hospital as a very people-intensive industry, with the staff the hospital's greatest asset. The human resour- ces department is in charge of ad- vertising, recruitment and screening of new employees, benefit planning, administration of wage and salary plans, develop- ment and maintenance of job descriptions, ongoing job perfor- mance appraisals, orientation of new émployees, training and education, and many.other people- STEVE BARRY related functions. A new field the department has recently had to deal with is labor relations involving contracts with two unions. The first agreement with the Canadian Union of Public Employees was signed in April 1987 and expires at the end of Septem- ber. A second agreement.with the On- tario Nurses' Association will be signed as soon as certain matters are.ruled upon by an arbitration board. The nurses' contract is also a first for Whitby hospital. Whitby General employs 265 people, 120 of them full-time. There are a number of, non-union em- ployees in the management, clerical, ' technical and physiotherapy departments. Barry points out that it has taken about two years to put the hospital's first two union contracts togëther. Another important function of the human resources department is as a resource for management and employees to deal with work- related matters at the hospital. Each year an employee is given a performance appraisal by his or her department head, and goals are set for the coming year. For the past two years the hospital has held a Health and Safety Week to make employees more aware of oc- cupational health and safety. One may think that a hospital is a place where health and safety are uppermost in an employee's mind, says Barry, but accidents do hap- pen: even something as simple as slipping and falling on a wet floor. Barry is a member of the hospital's occupational health and safety committee, made up of representatives of management and union and non-union staff, which meets once a month. Other duties of the human resources department are to see that the salaries, wages and benefits are current and com- parable to those in other hospitals. A new performance appraisal system developed and implemen- ted in the department has been documenting and formulating new personnel policies. Preparations are now being made for the anticipated growth of the hospital, with a view to more training and development of staff and management to deal*with ex- pansion. Already, Barry has seen the staff .grow by 70 since the continuing care unit was opened in 1984. The hospital will be installing a com- puter system in the near future which will provide reports such as employee record maintenance, benefit statements, vacation en- titlements an j working up salary and benefit costs at budget time. One of Barry's duties is to co- ordinate the United Way program at the hospital, which begins in Sep- tember and continues throughout the fall. With 11 years of experience in co-ordinating the United Way for his various employers, Barry is well' equipped to handle the program at Whitby General. Region wants answers on welfare deficit, caseload increase The welfare deficit for the first eight months of this year has jum- ped from $200,000 to $225,000 and Durham's finance committee wan- ts to know why. The committee also wants to know why there is a 19.8 increase in the number of caseloads in 1987 as compared to the same time frame last year. A report to the committee last Thursday showed that during the past four months, expenditures were more than 30 per cent higher than in 1986 even though the budget allowed only for a 15 per cent in- crease in the budget. Social service department statistics showed there were 3,614 cases to the end of August com- pared with 3,017 during the first eight months of 1986. Finance committee chairman Jim Witty and regional chairman Gary Her.rema questioned why there was such a dramatic increase in welfare cases in Durham when there were so many jobs advertised throughout the region. DAVE MARDEN ASSOCIATES recently moved its offices from Oshawa to the Whitby Mall and designated them as smoke-free, with the cigaret money donated to the Durham Region Lung Association. Above, with those dollars, are association treasurer Bill Robinson, flanked by Lyn- da and Dave Marden. Free Press photo Brooklin United Church........ FROM PAGE 15 munion will be celebrated on World Communion Sunday, Oct. 4. The congregation is pleased to welcome a new church secretary, Marie Williamson. She will be in the church office in the mornings from 9 a.m. until noon, Tuesday through Friday. The annual beef dinner will be held on Oct. 21. Fred Brown would be pleased to hear from anyone who would like to help at 655-3223. More details later. The outing of the "Sociables" to Black Creek Pioneer Village on Sept. 19 was cancelled because of the weafher. The attendaice at the corn roast of the Brooklin and Area Youth Ministry at St. Thomas Anglican Church the same evening was rather small for the same reason. Ten Brooklin ladies serve tea, coffee and fruit bread at Fairview Lodge on the second Tuesday of every month from September to June. Usually two ladies go from St. Thomas Anglican Church, two from St. Leo's Catholic Church and two from one of the units in Brooklin United Church. Volunteers are to be at Fairview and dressed in their Red Cross smocks by 11:30 a.m. and are usually finished by 3 p.m. If anyone can help call Marion Young at 655- 4686. Every place I go people tell me they can't get workers," said Herrema. "There are jobs in gas stations and at donut shops." Witty echoed Herrema's feelings, adding there were many help wan- ted ads in local newspapers. He requested regional staff look into the possibility of welfare fraud and determine if Durham needs to hire more than the present two staff members who catch welfare cheaters. Herrema pointed out that, in July, Oshawa accounted for 2,458 welfare cases, or about two per cent of its population, while other municipalities had a maximum of one per cent of population accep- ting welfare. But social services commissioner Gary Cubitt said it WHITE C[UMP BIRCII g 30% 1 OFF GARDEN TOOLS 25% OFF \ TREES 30 % was natural for Oshawa to have a higher percentage of welfare cases PI CEDAR HEDGING 30% OFF Hlgthway 2 SPRING BULBS 30% OFF PEATMOSS 20% OFF Bayly Street East since it is a large urban area and attracts more transients. 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