laboratory technician

office administrator

support technician

spécialiste en soutien technique

quality assurance manager

A&L Canada Laboratories Inc.

First off, I should've left after my first day working at A&L Laboratories as I was straight up told by management that they have an extremely high turn over rate and was told by every single lab tech I worked with how terrible of a place it is. The only reason I stayed here very long was because of how wonderful the majority of the lab techs are. It's also a regular occurrence that the ministry of labour will visit the lab due to complaints from the employees.

A&L Laboratories does not care about accuracy or quality of testing, all they care about is quantity of samples being run per day. This is especially true during the busy season when they have 4,000+ soil samples coming in daily and promise customers a one-day turnaround time for results. They make lab techs work 12+ hour days in which they are mostly unsupervised because management will only ever be there from 9-5pm. 

They refuse to have specialists come in for routine instrument maintenance and there is a huge lack of training that occurs for running instruments which results in inaccurate testing and creates more problems for the instruments (and issues when auditors come in). After MONTHS of begging for them to have someone come in to maintenance an instrument (it had not been maintenanced in 5 years since it was originally installed), they finally agreed and the specialist was infuriated with the condition and lack of care of the instrument. Every person who had ever run the instrument was running it incorrectly and we all had to teach ourselves how to trouble shoot and run the instruments. This isn't the fault of the lab techs but instead management for not having proper training in place.

The lab techs are all overworked and extremely underpaid. Imagine going to school for 4+ years to get paid a terrible wage.. Management also believes everyone here is disposable and the only reason anyone sticks around is because 99% of the lab techs are wonderful and make working at A&L tolerable. 

Management is constantly playing favourites and if they don't like you they will make it known. It's a very catty work environment and management is always spreading gossip around the lab. 
Management will also get extremely salty when you put in your notice to leave and will do anything in their power to make your life awful until you do leave. They will try to walk all over you and it's been known that several employees have been bullied out of getting their vacation paid out when they leave the company. 


I don't say this lightly at all but don't walk, RUN from A&L Laboratories...

Management doesn't bother retaining their employees and technicians receive little training when first hired. Technicians have to teach themselves on how to use most of the equipment and how to do the majority of the protocols. Equipment is barely maintenance by professionals and then management wonders why nothing works. Management will also spend money on things that rarely used but gets very stingy on things that are used everyday (ie. cutting paper and saving the scraps to 'save money')

Management does whatever it takes to make the clients happy, even if that means reducing the quality of the testing or changing how testing is done to get the results that management desires. If anything goes wrong with the testing, they barely offer any good troubleshooting tips and will say that it's your fault that it failed without taking into consideration of other factors. 

Management barely does anything while the technicians are doing everything, get burnt out and then quit. Several technicians were yelled out for things that were out of their control. Management also doesn't know what is going on 95% of the time because they simply don't care.

Only work here if you really desperately need job experience right after graduation, need a co-op or money. 

In my department my boss was thrown into a supervisor position completely unqualified because they couldn’t find anyone else to stay in that role and it made life hard. That supervisor is too inexperienced and immature, and the inconsistent expectations and feedback from them made the overall environment uncomfortable and frustrating. In their defence, their boss, my manager, when I worked there did …..very little. Last one to show up, first one out the door, never helps in the lab, and is the definition of hands off boss. He provided very little support and often failed to perform his responsibilities, which added more stress and pressure onto my supervisor who had no reliable resources for the support and guidance they really needed. 

The pay is not great but the job gets you more valuable job experience than Macdonalds. Fairly high turn over, but if you get in at the same time as some awesome people, it can be fun because there’s lots of opportunities for chatting and friendly banter while working in close proximity to one another. Aka. It can be fun at times 

This is a good starter job if you are a recent graduate. There are a few older individuals, particularly in management, the rest are individuals in their 20's. During the interview process promises will be made and not followed though on, even years into the company. There is high turn around in every department due to poor work culture and sup-par pay. They want you to be educated but are not willing to respect that education. Management tends to ignore most issues and hope that people quit. Work is up and down because it is client based. Some days are busy due to huge volumes of samples received and other days are very quiet. Management expects same day processing of samples no matter the condition of samples. If something is difficult to do they bend over backwards for their clients. It's the only way they keep their clients and is therefore extremely important to them.

There is a big divide between workers and management that has created an inhospitable work environment. There is a lack of effective leadership, employees are overworked, and essential requests (RE manpower, resources, conditions) go ignored. Generally speaking, and with one exception, management are clueless figureheads. A lot of talented young people work very hard to make up for that fact. The lab is loud and crowded and the pay is not good. Most employees stay because they are bound to London... for example, a lot of recent grads living at home while they pay off debt. This company desperately needs organization and better management. 

This is not a place to grow and learn, neither is it a diverse field. Small town mentality meets big city dreams, coupled with an inability to take action, are what makes A&L fall flat on its face. The roots are rotten.

Spend your time and money elsewhere if you are a client that values quality and transparency.

Apply for jobs elsewhere if you value working in non-toxic environments. your physical and mental well-being will not be taken into account. You will be mocked for trying to take care the health issues this place generates.

A&L has so many great employees working for them. The company respects their employees and is extremely transparent with them about many aspects of the business. Any concerns or questions are readily answered. This is the first place that I have worked where management and employees are not severely separated, but instead communicate well. I have learned so much while working here.

New hires will receive little to no training.
There's a high turnover rate resulting in a lack of experience and knowledge. The place us pretty much being run by unfortunate co-op students at this point.
The pay is pretty poor, especially when you have to do so much because nobody ever shows up to work.
And the worst part of it all, the managers just don't care. They just shove their problems on to you and complain about you when they're out for their lunch break.

Management does nothing while technicians are overworked and underpaid. Management reaps the benefits of hard working staff and act like it is there success. Constant turnover rates as everyone leaves the company once they see how company is managed. New hires get little to no training and instantly set up for failure within the company.

The only metric looked at is attendance. If you make complaints, than they will fire you instead of dealing with the issues. Some of the people working here are really great and nice people. The management, in my experience, tries to do as little as possible and sherk responsibility around to each other than actually solving issues that arise.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Laboratory technician 2 salaries reported	$18.75 per hour
Office administrator 3 salaries reported	$21.88 per hour
Support technician 2 salaries reported	$23.38 per hour
Spécialiste en soutien technique 1 salary reported	$22.00 per hour
Quality assurance manager 1 salary reported	$75,000 per year

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