laboratory assistant

laboratory technician

medical laboratory technician

medical technologist

medical assistant

LifeLabs

They'll be hiring, but for part time and floats, meaning that you'll be on call during your work days waiting on scheduling from any time from 5:45 to 9 am, if they even call. Else they message you on your phone or work email. Sometimes they give you a date and shift in advance. And mainly they look for non-union, because people are always looking for union positions internally. No set schedule, no set location, they say it'll settle in a year, but even then, you have to go where they tell you. Reason is because you have to internally apply for a full time position, and priority is always seniority and reccomendation (favoritism) based. Currently a 6 week training period where you'll have days that you need to travel to the main lab for data entry training, but on site training for holter, ampb and specimen send outs, though they still expect you to be as good and fast as a person whose been on the job for a year or more. MIA managment and they are out of touch with things, always wanting more productivity and cutting hours while keeping minimum number of people. And certain number of hours needed before you can receive even partial benefits. Not a good place to work if you want work life balance; either waiting for calls that don't come, pushy scheduling that won't listen when you tell them you can't make it to a location in time for a shift because it's so far, and weekends are hardly ever 2 days in a row or on set days. One week you'll be off monday and thursday, the week after tuesday and thursday, then monday and saturday, etc. And some teams and locations are nice, but others not so much, it's company culture to be nice in front of others but talk smack about another location when they aren't around, and gossip about patients in the back or on break. Plus there's the usual some places with bitter people. If you want to genuinely help people and provide quality patient care, it's not enough because this place will beat you down and make you another cog in a machine in a matter of time. I know it did for me, but it depends on location, and how ell you can handle things. Also little reimbursement for gas mileage to get to work out of you main work area, and none for those who use transit. Long probation time, and also while encouraged to call in sick, you get scolded for it if it's often, despite not being able to help it.

The employees and supervisors at lifelabs treat new employees like garbage. The other departments in the lab are not strict with their rules and policies but specimen management is the hardest and most exhausting place to work at. Most of the people working here are old ladies who think they are superior to everyone because of their seniority. These people will try to find ways to get new people who are in training fired. They will do this by excessively complaining over small mistakes. Even if you took a 2 minute extra break, these people will complain. If you talk to someone even if all your work is done and your shift is about to be over, they will still complain and tell the supervisor that you are not focused. However, these old employees think these rules do not apply to them and I have noticed several times in which they have taken 15-20 minutes extra break time. Training is also very vigorous and they expect employees in training to work non stop without talking at all. The trainers that are training new employees are very lazy as they teach them something once and expect them to learn something instantly. There have been many times where new employees are tasked to handle an entire station by themselves. Management acts like they care about new employees and what they have to say but they are always in favour of the old employees and there is a lot of partiality in the lab. Overall, not a good place to work as there is a lot of drama, lots of work, lots of stuff to learn.

No room for growth. Amount of experience you have isn’t taken into consideration when apply for job postings. Supervisor has favourites in every location and makes it evident to all other employees, even to others in other departments speak about it. Work you to the point that you can’t go off the floor without consequences. Exceptions are unattainable. Weekly more work is put on workers. To their already existing unmanageable, unsustainable list of tasks to complete. Plus make sure you are never faltering on how many patients you serve every 30mins onto of the every growing list of things to do. No recognition only constant criticism by supervisor and staff. Micromanaging from staff members is encouraged by supervisor because they allow it to continue. They can’t keep floats because they over work them and never allow them time off (they work 6 days a week most times 10hour days). Are expected to be on call to go all over the place to different locations at anytime, with no exceptions. Will not work with you if you have another job (2 days) they expect you to only be loyal to them, your making a living for your family doesn’t matter to them. Toxic work environment created by supervisor supporting employees bad behaviours towards other staff. Trust me you can make better money somewhere else. Highly recommended you don’t work here.

As a part time employee (which means casual in the world of LifeLabs, and you are not guaranteed a schedule) you are a work mule. You can work more then full time staff depending on if they are short staffed or not. You can start your day at one location, than have to move to another to fill a shift. If you request to have less shifts and have an availability change management asks a lot of questions as to why. Maybe more part time (regular) and full time positions should be issued to new candidates if more of the schedule for locations need to be filled. Pay is very low, when you can start in a hospital for almost $4/hr more. As a part time (casual) employee you are not entitled to benefits which isn't far when you are working as much or more than a part time (regular) employee. 

The company in a whole really needs to reevaluate the structure. A lot of problems with staffing can be solved with a higher pay scale and making part time (regular) and full time positions available to those who want set schedules. Part time (casual) positions should not be the working mules behind the company to keep it afloat. These employees should be used as fillers for the employees who take holidays, and to pick up sick calls so you are not short staffed. Overall would not work here again, and would not recommend to anyone.

At first I was so excited to work at Lifelabs, it was what I went to school for but I learned very quick that it is one of the worse places I have worked at.
When I was part time reg I was moved from location to location.  In one day I ended up working at all 3 locations where I started at 7:30am and didn't finish my day until 6:30 with only a 30 min lunch break besides all the driving I did between locations.  The one time I said no to picking up a extra shift because I had a doctor's appointment management didn't ask me again for at least 2 weeks.  Once I got full time it was better with not moving locations .
As much as management said they are all about the staff they team the staff up against each other.  They will pull you into the office and ask you to pretty rat each other out and then staff will see you leave the office and think you talked about them.
The turn over rate is higher then I have seen at any job before.
Most of the staff are the worst to work with.  They talk so poorly about each other and about patients right infront of everyone and nothing is done.  If a problem is brought up to the management they will pull that staff member or members in and talk to them then tell them not to do it again and that's it.


Cons: The management of LifeLabs is horrendously ineffective. Nepotism and favoritism are abundant. Ridiculous operational decisions are handed down from higher-ups without regard to how they affect the actual workflow. The workplace is becoming less and less effective and the turnover rate has shot up due to these idiotic decisions. Computer systems are laughably outdated and barely function. Management will zero in on certain staff and find any excuse to punish them while at the same time letting other staff get away with willfully incompetent work. Accommodations for scheduling are only given to favourites. The random, rotating schedule makes it impossible to have a work-life balance or plan anything in your life in advance. There are few opportunities for advancement for lab assistants. Morale is at an all time low and people are looking at escape plans.

Pros: The pay is reasonable and the workplace is unionized so the jobs are reliable and steady if you get a permanent position. Coworkers are great for the most part. The work itself is interesting. No graveyard shifts in Victoria. Probably still better than working at the hospital.

It's been a long time since I have encountered such a toxic environment within a department. The directors lack professionalism. They congratulate themselves on a job well done, completely dismissing the hard work of the team. There is a lot of back-stabbing and preferential treatment. Its a "who you know" environment and who likes you best. Managers are expected to work well over their 9-5 schedule and be at the back and call of the director. Just because you are hired to do a specific job, it does not mean you actually will as your role may change significantly. Directors pass you by on the hallway without even saying hello as if they are too good for you. It's sad.

It seems that the new CEO is taking a serious look at the culture as I see the Executive team changing. This change is necessary at the director level as well. There are a few that have been there significantly too long and feel that they cannot be touched. They treat their employees horribly and need to be let go in order for the culture to change. As it stands right now, this is a sinking ship. People are too afraid to even speak their mind as they fear for their job.

No supervision, catty female dominated environment, toxic, understaffed and overworked for minimum renumeration. Senior staff dump on new staff. Typical day you are run off your feet, you are timed and scrutinized on computer by senior staff, training was less than sufficient and not professional and skipped due to understaffing and being too busy. The supervisors are too busy performing personnel/HR/staffing/payroll/compiling stats to actually do any supervising. The Company is all about how many patients they can shove through their doors and they will sacrifice quality for the almighty $$$s. Hardest part of the job is dealing with jaded co-workers and being understaffed. The most enjoyable and only good part of the job (great in fact) is dealing with the patients that put their trust in you. The only job satisfaction is using your skill and personality to perform an excellent service to your patient. Unfortunately the Company shuns you going the extra mile and they promote the human production line.

I begin my day by opening specimens collected and delivered to the lab by couriers. When we receive samples, we open them, enter them into the computer system, label them, and finally send them to the main laboratory for testing. I have learned how to work efficiently and effectively as part of a team. The most important skill I have gained through my experience is good teamwork and communication. Management at Lifelabs is excellent at supporting their workers and ensuring they are well taken care of. My coworkers are equally superb, as we have learned to function as a cohesive unit in order to sort and process close to 600 samples per day. The hardest part of my job is trying to finish all the work in time. My team and I have to work at a very fast pace in order to finish all the work by the end of the day. The most enjoyable part is interacting and working together with my coworkers. It is very enjoyable to see the progression of teamwork and efficiency we have developed as a team over the years I have been working at Lifelabs.

I loved working at LifeLabs which was amazingly culturally diverse! 
I also loved being an important part of making sure that people's health was protected by making a difference and ensuring data entry of patient demographics, specimen integrity and test accuracy were never compromised. 
I felt the whole team worked well together and often helped each other in times of crisis such as work overload, shortage of workers due to illness, machine malfunction, et cetera. When "stuff" happened we banned together. We had amazing team leaders as well. 
The atmosphere in the laboratory was always energized and everyone on the team worked hard to complete each task with skill, integrity, knowledge and purpose. 
The hardest part for me was assessing my own yearly reviews. I could have used more guidance with this and others seem to have felt the same. 
Loved being a part of this environment and given the chance would work there again!

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