A B.C. government announcement on Nov. 24 that all workers in the province will be eligible for a minimum of five paid sick days starting Jan. 1 is good news for workers—but the announcement has led to frustration for businesses.
The health and well-being of businesses and their employees is critical, said Whistler Chamber CEO Melissa Pace, but the timing of the announcement was not ideal for business owners in Whistler.
“[It’s] another expense on the back of small business at a time when they are already dealing with a labour crisis, supply-chain issues, impacts of the floods in our province and when the federal COVID programs have changed. Most will not have budgeted for this additional expense,” Pace said.
“These costs will add to an already increasing financial burden to businesses, which will undoubtedly result in increased costs and upward pressure on prices.”
Pique reached out to five different Whistler businesses after the announcement. Two declined comment, noting more information is still needed, and three did not respond before deadline. An online post seeking feedback on the change from local workers generated a handful of responses, but no one willing to go on record.
In a Nov. 24 statement, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business called the announcement “tone-deaf to the realities small businesses are facing,” and noted that only 38 per cent of B.C. small businesses are back to making “normal sales” since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While 63 per cent of small businesses support paid sick leave if the costs were fully funded by the government, “the majority of B.C. small businesses (64 per cent) are not supportive of any permanent employer-paid sick leave program, with 84 per cent citing costs as their main concern,” said CFIB president and CEO Dan Kelly, in a release.
“All of this is coming at a time when the average B.C. small business is carrying $129,348 in COVID-19 related debt and estimates it will take around 21 months to fully recover from the impacts of the pandemic. In fact, just over a third (35 per cent) of B.C. small businesses feel they are losing money every day that they are open.”
In Whistler, businesses are also still dealing with a “critical” labour shortage as the winter season gets underway, Pace said.
“So we’re going to be seeing people working overtime, or some early closures, or again, reduced service in the businesses, so it’s tough,” she said, adding that the shortage extends beyond tourism and hospitality, and even beyond Whistler.
A lack of housing continues to be a major driver behind the labour shortage.
“We’ve had businesses that have said they’ve had potential candidates for jobs that have not been able to secure housing, so they haven’t stayed, which is really heart wrenching, to hear that,” Pace said.
“So there’s lots of advocacy that we’ll be continuing to work on to try and resolve some of these issues as quickly as possible.”
For those workers who are already in the resort, the Whistler Chamber recently launched its revamped Whistler Experience customer service-training program.
The program’s ABCs of Customer Service training has been “completely redesigned from a mountain-culture perspective, and features tons of people that everybody will know,” Pace said, including Jackie Dickinson from the Whistler Community Services Society and hosted by Heather Paul.
“We’ve included Whistler’s history, starting with a recognition of the Indigenous culture that lives and exists here in our community, so it’s really different,” Pace said.
“Whether you’ve been here for years or you’ve just arrived in Whistler, our intent was to really ground you in that connection to Whistler, and what your purpose is going to be in Whistler while you’re here, or as long as you live here.”
The Whistler Experience also includes a Gender Diversity Basics course, as well as returning courses for management.
The idea behind the program, which is on track to surpass its registration target of 1,400 workers, is to take the pressure off of small businesses, and provide customer service consistency across the resort, Pace said.
“Having a consistent customer service training program—now modernized, now grounded in and rooted in mountain culture—it’s very exciting for us to be able to roll that out,” she said.
“So we’re pretty proud of that program.”
Find more info at whistlerchamber.com.
