Food banks and Shelters Need Strong Leadership to Survive COVID-19: 4 Considerations for Executive Recruitment
Charitable organizations throughout Canada are experiencing drops in revenue and a huge rise in demand since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Especially among food banks and shelters, demand for their essential services is rising while government financial aid is set to run out soon. And as colder weather approaches, many of these organizations are starting to face the reality of a second wave of infection, a continuously growing need for community services, and upcoming financial turmoil. In the face of such a critical public health crisis, equipping these organizations with strong leadership is more important than ever. Here are four things recruiters must consider as they seek executive leadership for shelters and food banks in 2020:
Like never before, strong leadership is needed to keep non-profits running and vulnerable community members safe. Is your organization prepared?
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How tipping is putting hospitality workers at risk during COVID-19
I just quit my job of three years amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Why would someone who has no potential job prospects (and virtually no financial security) do that during one of the most uncertain times for workers? Allow me to paint a picture of the toxic culture and unsafe conditions that I, and many other hospitality workers, endure every day. Hospitality workers struggle to make a living wage at the best of times, which is only worsened in the midst of this pandemic. This is an industry that is vastly plagued by sexist wage inequality, racism, lack of paid overtime hours, and dependence on tips to get by. In Ontario, the expectation of tips dictates that servers are only paid $12.20 to $14.00 per hour. Your boss and your patrons decide, seemingly at random, what you are worth and how much you will make each month. Tipping is problematic for many reasons, especially if your boss or patrons are sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic or just feel like paying you less. At its core, tipping is discriminatory, and keeps service workers below the poverty line with the expectation that tips will beef up earnings. Minimum wage creates the societal perception that service workers are unskilled, while at the same time being offering extra money in tips to incentivize a job as worthy, without a business owner or manager actually having to pay up in wages to support their livelihood. Those who work front and back of house often do not receive benefits or paid sick leave. In addition to this, tip money often isn’t declared, which is an issue now more than ever when workers are jobless and trying to get EI and CERB. Tips and inadequate pay leave service workers with virtually no financial support when they cannot work because of COVID-19. Furthermore, when the general public is responsible for making up your gap in wages through tipping, this puts the lives of all service and hospitality workers at risk. Most businesses do not have a plan for if an employee falls sick with COVID-19. There is virtually no transparency or communication between employers and employees discussing what hours employees are comfortable with working and other safety concerns. I was put into a situation where I had to decide to work full-time for my employer and come off of CERB or lose my full time hours after the pandemic. This is the sad reality for many service workers who make more on CERB than they do in wages. The system that is in place needs to change. The safety of service and hospitality workers needs to become a priority. Tipping needs to be abolished to make room for paying us a living wage. There needs to be consequences for business owners who threaten and disrespect employees. If we can’t change the behaviour of our employers, then hopefully we can change the industry. |
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