Your digest
REMINDER — The next live townhall is on Tuesday: Please join us on Tues, September 15 at 1 p.m. ET for the next live event with our CEO. Graham will be joined by Andrew Pateman, VP people, culture and performance. As kids head back to school, we understand that stress and anxiety are high, so we hope that this event can provide some insight into supports available to you as well as serve an opportunity to continue our important conversations on diversity, equity and inclusion. Click the meeting link in your outlook invite to join live; and if you can’t make it check-out the event recording on your COVID-19 employee portal. Want to submit questions in advance? Send them to communications@blood.ca with the subject line “TOWNHALL.” We look forward to seeing you all there.
Updates to COVID-19 employee financial supports:
When the pandemic hit, we had to come together to determine how we as an organization could continue to support our teams as we adapted to meet the challenges of COVID-19. Through the implementation of financial supports, we were able to ensure that employees were kept whole while our operations adjusted to our new reality. Now six months since the onset, we are happy to see that our operations have largely returned to normal levels, and we are undergoing the process of reviewing the measures put in place. Our review showed that some supports, such as caregiver and quarantine leave are still very much needed to support employees who are navigating the challenges of being working parents or caregivers. It also identified that issues we originally planned for, such as reduced operations and an influx of sick leave requests associated with COVID-19, are no longer problems that exist within our organization.
We encourage you to review the updates to COVID-19 employee financial supports — caregiver leave, quarantine leave, sick leave and pandemic top-up — and speak with your manager to see how they may affect you.
The road to LEED: how green design principles have shaped our new Calgary site: The new Calgary facility was built with efficiency and environmental sustainability in mind. We’ve made our processes in production, testing, logistics and equipment services more proficient and successfully put the building on track to reach a LEED Gold designation (did you know the building was constructed using 20 per cent recycled materials?) The shift to a more sustainable environment has also changed how our employees engage with the workplace. The space enables our teams to work with a lot of natural light and fresh airflow and makes it easier to commute in an eco-friendly way, with priority parking spaces for carpoolers. As we reduce our carbon footprint in our operations, we are changing the way our teams interact with the workplace. Learn more on Connect.
COVID-19 antibody testing shows few healthy Canadians have had the virus: This week, Canadian Blood Services and Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) released the results of phase one of blood sample testing for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. We tested 37,373 samples, which were collected between May 9 and June 18, 2020. Fewer than one per cent of donors tested positive for antibodies to the novel coronavirus. These results offer insight into how common COVID-19 has been among a relatively healthy subset of Canadians, and marks the end of the first phase of our ongoing seroprevalence study. We are still learning about COVID-19 immunity, but the results indicate that the vast majority of individuals tested remain vulnerable to infection because very few individuals have antibodies against the virus. Learn more on blood.ca/stories.
Question of the day: With gyms in our facilities still closed, will Canadian Blood Services continue to offer virtual fitness classes?
With the colder weather approaching, we understand how challenging it can be to remain active. We know that exercise is an important part of health and wellbeing and we can appreciate that many of you are looking for safe alternatives while our gyms are closed.
We are excited to share that back by popular demand, this fall we will continue to offer virtual fitness classes with our partners at Goodlife! Check out the information on the sessions and register yourself or any member of your household below. See you on the mat!
Zumba: Tuesdays at 1:00 p.m. ET
Boot Camp: Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m. ET
Sh'Bam: Wednesdays at 12:00 p.m. ET
Yoga: Thursdays at 12:00 p.m. ET
Looking for more? Check out our catalogue of workouts, meditation and other awesome videos you can do anytime on your Wellness Wednesday employee portal page.
About your digest
This digest will highlight the latest policy and employee support measures, resources to help you manage our new reality and original content like articles and videos to remind us that what we do matters. No access to email? No problem — all this information and more can be found on blood.ca/employees from any device, no login required.
Click here to read past editions of your digest.
Have questions? Check out blood.ca/employees or email us at communications@blood.ca