(Quebec) The Legault administration will have a hard time convincing employment agency workers to return to the public health network. A survey of more than 2,000 private health workers shows little interest in returning to public service before retirement.
Posted at 12:00 p.m
The largest group of recruitment agencies is shedding new light on their employees’ career aspirations just as Minister Christian Dubé is due to introduce a bill on Wednesday to limit the use of recruitment agencies in the public service.
On Tuesday, the health secretary argued that he wanted to “make a culture change” and that better use of public network resources was “a key element” of his health plan.
Quebec does not hide that it is striving to wean the healthcare network from private agencies, whose use continues to grow. On Tuesday, the FTQ announced that the state of Quebec spent nearly $3 billion hiring independent workers from 2016 to 2022.
The group Private Companies of Caregivers of Quebec (EPPSQ) polled its members’ employees Feb. 7-13 to give them the floor in a context where the surrounding discourse on the agencies’ future “has no nuances,” regrets the president. Patrice Lapointe.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
The president of the group of private healthcare staffing companies in Quebec, Patrice Lapointe
“These people are in a position where we tell them we are going to get rid of their current employer […] and that anyone with a good heart will return to a health network they knew and left for all sorts of reasons as varied as valid,” he laments.
The survey shows that 8 in 10 healthcare workers (81%) are “unlikely” to return to public life by the time they retire. According to a survey, this rate reaches 84% among nursing staff and even 90% among nursing assistants.
The exercise also shows that 70% of the workers surveyed “would be more likely to change careers rather than stay in the public network” if the private employment agencies “didn’t exist”. This rate rises to 78% for licensed practical nurses.
Better working conditions
Not surprisingly, health workers who left the public network were motivated by better working conditions in the private sector. Making the public sector the “employer of choice” is Minister Christian Dubé’s main concern.
Of agency employees surveyed, 72% said they let the public “determine the number of hours” they work per week in order to have “better control” over their schedule (70%), for better salary (71%) and for a better work-family balance (68%).
“Although many people are still looking for job security, professional autonomy and freedom are values that have taken on a great place and as long as we do not review the organization of work in the network, we will face the same challenge,” emphasizes Mr. Lapointe, whose association advocates for calls for better surveillance of its sector.
Fact: Half (48%) of employees surveyed said they had not worked any “Compulsory Overtime” (TSO) in the past year.
The Legault government is seeking legislation to tighten the screws on the agencies and put a precise stop to the brain drain.
On Tuesday, Mr Dubé said his bill would put an end to the use of “outsiders” in particular [pour combler] favorable hours. A corresponding guideline is already in force, but would not always be applied network-wide. “There will be even more important reasons to pursue the new policy,” said Minister Dubé.
In the Blue Room, he also recalled the importance of finding the right “balance” to reduce agency use without putting pressure on staff. Mr. Dubé has also specified in the past that given the strong dependency of certain regions such as Abitibi-Témiscamingue or the North Shore, targets could be set by area.
The task will not be small. Quebec last December launched a bid — which has since been suspended — for 8 million hours of work to be performed by independent workers at all of the province’s health facilities.
There is a broad consensus on the subject in the National Assembly. Québec solidaire and the Parti Québécois argued on Tuesday that the Legault government had already “wasted enough time” before addressing the situation that has been lamented for several years. They are demanding that the network give itself a clear timeline for moving away from agencies completely.
Only the Quebec Liberal Party was more nuanced on Tuesday, claiming it wants to “think” to determine “what place agencies” have in the public health network.