Town Hall Q&A
Q: Why can’t the cooks have their own tablets to order groceries and look for recipes? A: We are currently rolling out the last of the cellular tablets, which will ensure that all classrooms have at minimum one cellular tablet per classroom. From there we will be determining a plan for the non-cellular tablets at each location. Given that each location should have extra tablets available to them, Cooks are encouraged to speak to their Supervisor about ensuring they can have access to a tablet for planning and placing their grocery orders. While this may not mean that one tablet is dedicated to each Cook, we see no reason why Cooks shouldn’t be able to access the tablet at dedicated times throughout the day and/or week. Q: Will there be an update on our sick policy? For example, more clarification on what temperature we send home for a fever. A: Our sick policies follow the guidelines of Hamilton Public Health and the criteria outlined in the Infection Control Guidelines for Child Care Centres. These guidelines do not list a particular degree in which a child must be excluded from program. Fever associated with the child’s behaviour or other symptoms would support the determination of whether the child should be sent home. Q: When will we begin using Kindertales for incident and accident reports? A: Though Accident and Incident Reports are available and working on Kindertales, Kindertales does not have a way to send the signed reports directly to parents. We are currently working with Kindertales to resolve this and hope to have a seamless reporting process up and running soon. In the meantime, you can continue to use our Umbrella Accident/Incident Form available on the Employee Portal. Q: If we ask our supervisors if we can purchase an item and we pick it up ourselves, how long should it take to get reimbursed?A: Great question! To address this current gap in our Petty Cash process, we have created two forms for requesting materials for your programs. On the form there is an area to identify who (staff or supervisor) is making the purchase and if the purchase is made by a staff member, how the purchase is being paid for (petty cash to be given for purchase, or receipt submitted for reimbursement). Once the purchase is approved, the supervisor will confirm that petty cash is on site and available for reimbursement. If there is not any petty cash on site, the supervisor can support the purchase using their Amazon account or using their work credit card. The expectation is that petty cash is readily available for immediate reimbursement. This new form will support transparency and accountability when it comes to requests for materials and timely reimbursements.
