When two Wisconsin senior living communities announced they were participating in a four-day work week pilot program, there was a significant spike in job applications, with long-standing positions filling within weeks. I was.
A $907,000 grant from the Wisconsin Department of Health has enabled the Capri community to pilot an employment program in two communities: Grafton’s Village Point Commons and Port Washington’s Harbor Campus.
Launched on January 8, the program is a flexible, scaled-down program that gives employees more free time, less travel, lower childcare costs, less burnout, and more free time. test the value of a week’s labor. The employee works 32 hours, but is paid for 40 hours a week. This program will give employees 52 days of paid vacation each year.
Village Pointe Commons is testing the program with full-time and part-time caregivers, but hopes to eventually expand it to all hourly employees. Harbor Campus is testing the program with cooks and nutritionists and plans to roll it out to caregivers in March. If the program is successful, Capri Communities will consider rolling it out company-wide to 18 senior living campuses in Southern Wisconsin.
According to Greater Milwaukee Today, the number of applications for Village Pointe Commons has jumped tenfold since the program began. At Harbor Campus, the kitchen was staffed within three weeks of him, and sign-ups he increased by 3,000%.
This program was funded by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. The agency used U.S. Relief Plans Act funds to award grants to 69 organizations that submitted applications for programs that offer innovative ways to address the workforce crisis.
Capri Communities was part of the first funding round. The state has received more than 717 applications requesting more than $200 million in funding. Ultimately, 69 project submissions representing $17.3 million in project funding were selected.
“Wisconsin’s direct care workers are the backbone of home-based and community-based services. But the industry is in crisis,” a DHS spokesperson said. McKnights Senior Living, In addition, a quarter of direct caregivers in the state remain vacant. “The grant program directs news resources to some of the most pressing issues facing Wisconsin residents undergoing HCBS, including innovative ways to address the workforce crisis.”
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, emphasized the need for targeted workforce investment in sectors including health care in his January state address.
Among its proposals, Capri Communities will incorporate a process into its payroll system to track and award fifth-day pay to employees who reach the appropriate thresholds, and schedule schedules to ensure adequate weekend coverage. said to have designed Providers will use the grant to establish and market their programs until they can bring their turnover and training costs to more sustainable levels.
“Extended tenure and reduced burnout will benefit residents, improve quality of care and resident satisfaction,” the Capri Community proposal reads.
A spokesperson for the state health department called Capri Communities’ proposal an example of an “innovative strategy” to address the labor shortage.
