Vancouver, City of

The City of Vancouver's physical workplace is rated as very good. Built in 1936, Vancouver's City Hall is a designated heritage building amidst a park-like campus setting in the downtown core. It is situated along major transit routes and is close to restaurants, shopping and entertainment districts. Inside, the landmark Art Deco-style building features an employee lounge (with couches, television); onsite cafeteria (with healthy and special diet menus, Starbucks coffee); secure bicycle parking; transit subsidies; shower facilities for self-propelled commuters; car pool sign-up system; discounted membership rates at a fitness facility across the street; landscaped grounds with a relaxing Japanese botanical garden.

The City of Vancouver's work atmosphere is rated as average. Throughout the year, employees enjoy business casual dress; can listen to music while working. Every year, employees enjoy and participate in a variety of fun social events, including a summer family day, a staff barbecue every May to celebrate the start to the summer season, a health education fair and healthy lunch, an annual employee Christmas party, and participation in the annual Vancouver Sun Run, which is a popular community race to promote fitness and amateur athletics. Employees also organize their own sports teams and events, including curling, golf and running clubs. The City of Vancouver keeps its employees up-to-date through a company newsletter; corporate intranet site.

The City of Vancouver's financial benefits are rated as very good. To keep salaries competitive the company participates in outside salary surveys every 12 months. Individual salaries are reviewed every 12 months. The City also provides defined benefit pension with employer contribution (up to 7.9% of salary); life & disability insurance; retirement planning assistance; matching employer contributions (to 1.5% of salary) to the Vancouver Employee Savings (VESP) Plan for non-union employee groups; discounted passes for access to all pools, rinks and fitness centres managed by the City's parks board.

The City of Vancouver's health and family benefits are rated as very good. The City of Vancouver offers separate health plans that vary with each employee group, including union groups and non-union employees. Most employees receive 100% premimum coverage (two smaller employee groups receive 60% and 75%, respectively) and non-union employees can tailor their benefits through flexible plan options. The major benefits plans all offer the following minimum coverages. As part of the health plan, the employer pays 100% of the premiums. Employees who work 40 hours per week receive coverage. The waiting period for new employees is 31 days. Employees receive full family coverage on the health benefits plan. Restorative dental; orthodontics; eyecare ($450 every 2 years); traditional medicine coverage; alternative medicine coverage; massage therapy; medical equipment and supplies; employee assistance (EAP) plan; travel insurance. The City's family-friendly benefits include: maternity top-up payments (to 95% of salary for 6 weeks); onsite daycare centre; with 47 spaces; 14 childcare workers. The daycare centre is located across the street and is operated by the City Hall Child Care Society. The centre receives an ongoing subsidy (in the form of free rent, building upgrades and maintenance) and was built by the City with preference given the children of City employees. Additional family-friendly benefits include: flexible working hours; telecommuting; 35-hour work week (with full pay); shortened work week (fewer hours with less pay); compressed work week; earned days off (EDO) program; phased-in retirement.

The City of Vancouver's vacation and personal time-off are rated as average. New employees receive 3 weeks of vacation allowance after their first year. Vacation increases after 10 years on the job. Long-serving employees receive a maximum of 6 weeks of vacation each year. Employees receive 12 paid sick days every year. Employees can also apply for an unpaid leave of absence. Depending on their employee group, some employees also receive additional paid personal days off. (Non-union exempt employees start at four weeks of paid vacation, moving to five weeks after a decade of service.).

The City of Vancouver's employee engagement program is rated as average. Employees receive individual performance reviews every 12 months. Managers receive training in how to conduct effective performance reviews. As part of the review process employees can provide confidential feedback on their manager's performance. The City has a variety of performance management programs in place that vary from department to department and employee groups. For most groups, employee reviews take place on an annual basis and may include mid-year reviews.

The City of Vancouver's training and skills development program is rated as exceptional. Employees receive tuition subsidies for courses related to their position. (The employer subsidizes up to 100% of tuition). Employees may also receive tuition subsidies for courses unrelated to their current position. (The employer subsidizes up to 100% of non-related tuition). In addition to generous tuition subsidies, the City supports employees' ongoing career development with subsidies for professional accreditations; in-house apprenticeship and skilled trades internships; in-house training programs; online employee skills inventory; formal mentoring program; career planning services; leadership training; an executive coaching program; an engineer-in-training program; and apprenticeship opportunities for automotive service technicians, blacksmiths, carpenters, commercial transport and heavy duty mechanics, machinists, millwrights and steel fabricators.

The City of Vancouver's community involvement program is rated as above-average. Beyond the its role of serving the community, the City and its employees support a number of local charitable initiatives every year. Employees take part in the selection of charitable groups assisted each year. Employees receive paid time off to volunteer with their favourite charitable organizations. As part of its longstanding support for the annual United Way fundraising campaign, the City offers payroll deductions so employees can make automatic contributions the the charity. In addition, two employees have the opportunity every year to work with the United Way, while still receiving full pay and benefits from the City of Vancouver. In a unique initiative that highlights its community focus, the City provides six-month work experience terms to individuals recovering from drug addiction. As part of this initiative, the City works in partnership with community organizations across the city.