youth worker

supervisor

team leader

clinical supervisor

operations manager

Wolastoqiyik Family Services

In my experience, the rapport a worker has with their client is integral to their job security or at least the location of their job position. After providing direction and enforcing house rules to my client, the client was expectedly upset with me. This later came back to hurt me as my manager said that my rapport with said client was damaged and it was primarily my job to fix it. Furthermore, after working in the field for a few years now, I have never witnessed such a lack of accountability and consequences for clients when they need it most. Unfortunately I feel as though the clients generally get away with whatever they want to with little or no repercussions, which isn't usually constructive for their personal growth.

After witnessing poor and consistent policy implementations and mass firings with no backup plans (leading to considerable company-wide staff shortages), I am left with little respect for the management side of this company. The atmosphere at the office feels very cliquey and has a sort of contrived hospitality. If you are going to find meaningful professional and emotional support in this company, you will more likely find it from your co-workers, supervisors, and team leads. This is a private company, not a grassroots movement, and support and consistency needs to come from the top-down, not the other way around. Other cons, such as no paid trainings, no sick days, no hazard pays, etc are outright indefensible, especially when I have not experienced this at other companies. 

At its best, you can make meaningful connections with your clients and co-workers while growing personally and professionally. This company is providing an essential service for First Nation youth and families that need it. I would recommend working at other youth care companies over this one. I hope WFS grows and works out the kinks in their system to reach their full potential for the sake of their employees and clients and the communities they serve.

I have been working here for several months now but in my time working for this company I have seen ALOT of people leave/quit in an unhappy state. I've also noticed that this company hires people with lack of life /work experience (kids) which is a bad mix when you're job is to care for a human child. Some of these new staff are the reason why some of the clients at the houses will get heightened, the new stuff gets power hungry with the little authority they are given, a lot of these younger staff also disregard the safety of others during covid-19. A better screening process should be put in place. At one time HR advertised that we would hire anyone! This could have serious consequences if the wrong person accidentally slips in since announcements like this can draw in the wrong people, this is misleading and ultimately useless. HR is inadequate and will have you doing circles if something is bothering you with no results ever coming forth. Surveys are put out for changes within the company and at times only barely last a month (e.g switch to centralized scheduling lasted less than 5 weeks yet everyone voted on it), but don't vote on cost-saving decisions that affect the company such as switching 8-hour shifts to 12-hours behind the majority of staffs back. Internal jobs are also advertised throughout the whole company yet are only finally offered to those who who are friends with management outside of work. Overall I feel dissatisfied working for this company with changes only benefiting the owners and management. This is a company that pretends to listen. I'm excited to be leaving this company in the next upcoming days as no growth or self-development came from my experience here. 

If you read a 5-star or 4-star review , the review poster is not being honest. Chances are they're just trying to do damage control.

One of the worst companies I've ever worked for in terms of communication, and despite all of their innovative rhetoric, they have no desire for input from their employees. I've been waiting for 7 months to get on the health benefits promised to me when I went full time: not only am I still waiting but received minimal explanation from HR as to why this was happening.
Vaccines were offered through this company quite early compared to when most people got/will get them, but a lot of employees ended up not getting one because they were not told about it when it was happening. 
They recently switched a bunch of staff around to different programs to thin out the labor force enough to create more programs, but it was clear to everyone who works for them that it was a completely unnecessary and (and often not communicated) separation of  Youth (many of which with past trauma and separation issues already) from workers that were a needed and consistent part of their life.

The upper management team provides staff with mental and emotional support by demonstrating an “open door policy”. The management team show empathy and understanding, and looks after the welfare of all employees. The leaders of WFS are a strong, compassionate, generous, and reasonable dynamic duo dedicated to the well-being of their clients and staff. WFS is a secure work environment for staff, as there is always room to grow within the company and staff members can participate as much as they want too, as there are several volunteer opportunities and committees within the company. WFS is involved with the community, and encourages clients and staff members to engage. WFS offers a number of trainings that build stronger skill sets for staff members and benefits.  WFS is an organized company with strong communication. They use Slack and Snap 365 to keep scheduling, time-off requests, shift-trading, punching in and out, availability etc. structured and clearly navigated. Overall WFS is a positive hands on learning environment, where employees are encouraged and supported in their work setting.

You'll like this job if you're a sucker who doesn't know their rights. There's Nepotism, back-stabbing, huge conflicts of interests, etc... My biggest issues is that management just does not care about anyone but themselves. Not your mental or physical health, not your availability, not that funeral you need a shift covered for... You're just a number to them. One of the CEOs is a "lawyer" who knows how to mistreat employees legally. If you reach out to HR with any concerns, be it about work, other staff, hours, wanting stress leave, whatever, you'll get the full run around for it. And if it inconveniences them, you'll be punished for it somehow. You have no say or flexibility in your schedule, getting time off is like pulling teeth, and when you do take time off there's no guarantee you'll have your shift or rotation when you come back. You can't move up unless your in management's butts, and you won't get a raise unless you go out of your way to prove you deserve it and they can't find even the tiniest reason not to give it to you. And they'll still give you $.50 less than you asked for.

This company is a great idea for indigenous communities but did not follow through on the the promises to both clients and staff. Staff are constantly in fear of losing their position based on clients preference of employees. The youth are not given much in the sense of culture outside of a smudge bowl delivered to the houses and a few posters around the houses. The youth are given whatever they want with very low requirements to receive what they want. Mass firings without a plan from management left workers overworked and houses understaffed with managers and the owners making jokes about it instead of listening to the stress of their employees. Cultural training is not required and many employees are unaware of indigenous issues and practices. There is no thought to putting employees with no experience in a house with an aggressive youth. Youth also have very little boundaries but that’s okay because neither do some of the workers. 

The management here for the most part lacks compassion, understanding, and most importantly disregards their staffs mental health. Most people you speak to will say this is a fantastic company, and in some respects I still agree. The clients are well cared for and there is no shortage in resources to provide them with anything they need. However, promotions are handed out on the basis of favoritism and personal relationships with upper management. Most team leads and supervisors are great, but some lack competence and knowledge in the field. Many long term staff who dedicate significantly to the company get overlooked because they do not brag about every little thing they do. Upper management has stated numerous times that employees are "replaceable", which significantly decreases a persons sense of value and worth in the field. In short, if you suck up and befriend the right people you stand a solid chance at maintaining a job here.

This company has grown a lot since I started. I have worked there for a year and a half. Some houses/teams do have problems but management is trying. This is a new company and it takes time to iron out the problems. Your never short on hours and meet amazing charismatic youth. You need tough skin to work here as you are working with traumatized youth who don't like to hold back what they are thinking. Hardest part for me has been dealing with other staff who don't show much empathy and don't take initiative when it comes to caring for the youth. This is a job that requires to work as a TEAM and be vocal with your other coworkers. When you work together and talk with each other, the youth thrive and have very little incidents.

I worked at WFS for almost 3 years. The only reason why I stayed so long was due to the relationship I built with the clients. Upper management is selfish and does not care about anyone but themselves. They hire just about anyone including their spouses who receive a great pay check when all of their other staff is underpaid and overworked. Unless you suck up and they like you, it is unlikely that you will move up management as they have their favourites already picked out. Anything to do with the wellness of staff is severely neglected. And to top it all off, they have a 0 gossip policy but upper management is the worst for gossiping about their employees. I would NOT recommend WFS whatsoever. 

On paper, wonderful company which truly prioritizes youth in need. Once hired, you will quickly realize this isn’t the case. Little to no support from upper management and out of control youth who consistently put workers in difficult and dangerous situations and have no consequences to their actions are just a couple reasons. Owners are constantly finding ways to cut costs regardless of the impact on the staff or youth. As long as money is in their pockets, they do not care. Enjoy whatever wage you start at, because you will likely get very little to no raise regardless of how hard you work. They would rather replace you with someone less qualified then give you an extra dime. 

If you truly want to make a difference, I strongly suggest you look for somewhere else to work. STAY AWAY.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Youth worker 4 salaries reported	$19.25 per hour
Supervisor 2 salaries reported	$20.75 per hour
Team leader 4 salaries reported	$25.25 per hour
Clinical supervisor 1 salary reported	$1,538 per week
Operations manager 1 salary reported	$30.00 per hour

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