facilities assistant

laborer

operator

lifeguard

operations associate

City of Red Deer

If you’re looking at municipal enforcement, stop right now and look elsewhere. The city is a joke to work for. If you like having safety treated as a last priority by management then you’ll love it here. And forget about having a sergeant who answers questions. Instead he gets up and walks away when you ask him anything and refuses to help you. Managers, superintendents, and Human Resources are a joke. They constantly bully and harass their staff. The sergeant has neglected to notify staff of court appearances and when they don’t show up, they are blamed and threatened by management. Forget about complaining because the director won’t investigate your concerns and then tell you your concerns are unfounded. This is on top of them having a ticket quota, that they claim isn’t a quota. It’s 10. The daily ticket quota is 10 per person. They constantly lie about it too insisting the quota isn’t a quota. Management was actually alright with an employee not having a bullet proof vest, but still went after him for lack of tickets when he felt unsafe doing traffic enforcement with no armour. They went after numerous others for taking stress leave. You know why they’re all stressed? Because of incompetent management. But management and HR won’t acknowledge they’re the root of it all. They seem to think sending their peace officers into homeless camps while wearing coveralls over their uniform isn’t a safety concern. How about we give our managers a duty belt, and then cover it with coveralls, and then attack them and see how well they handle it? They wouldn’t know what to do but expect the staff to figure it out. Management is constantly harassing people for minor things, but ignore the rules for a certain employee who was in a personal intimate relationship with a manager. She’s still there (he got fired), and she gets so much special treatment and favouritism it’s pathetic. If you like a workplace with zero training or opportunities for advancement, then this is your dream job. You’ll be treated worse by your employer than you will by the cracked out drug addicts you deal with daily. Don’t waste your time. You’ll be looking for a replacement job before your probationary period is over.

I typically work around 40 hrs/week with the opportunity for overtime several times per pay period. 

I have been doing the same job/position for over 6 years with almost no additional training. Communication between management and employees is very minimal and a lot of information is passed around between employees (unreliable, second-hand information)

Moral and job-satisfaction in my department is at an all-time low, and it seems like management and the city are purposely making the job environment continually worse for employees.  A lot of employees believe this is by design. They believe the City of Red Deer is trying to eliminate this department.

The hardest part of the job is seeing how poorly our dedicated, hard-working people are being treated. There is a very high rate of disciplinary action brought towards the employees for minor infractions that have a significant impact on their ability to move up the seniority ladder. People are resigning, quitting or giving up acting rolls in the department at an alarming rate due to high work-place dissatisfaction.

The most enjoyable part of the job is getting to know our customers, feeling a sense of comradery with our fellow co-workers, and having a regular pay check.

Overall, a great place to work, but, it all depends on your education level and what department you're working in. Expect poor attitudes, low morale, and somewhat toxic co-workers if you're working as a labourer or operator in the field.  The salary is excellent for somebody without post-secondary, and I feel like this is the only reason most people stay in these positions. Also, don't expect to get full-time.. Most positions are 6-11 month seasonal and they rarely post new full-time positions.  Other departments are completely different and if you have post-secondary, there are some incredible opportunities with outstanding colleagues and a phenomenal work culture to boot. Full-time benefits are very competitive and make even the worst positions more than worth doing. Overall, I'd highly recommend this organization to anybody looking for a job, just keep in mind that your options are very limited without a degree or diploma, and, even then, you generally need years of experience to land one of those positions. If you're looking to save money and go back to school, this is one of the best places to work in my opinion. 

As a facility operations worker you start out casual and the job seems good. The pay is really good for an entry level job but the rest is a joke. Training is little and poor, lots for the worker to be liable for and they never mention that. Confidential meetings aren't and the promotion of school yard favoratism is there. Due to the union environment those that are unqualified get into positions where they shouldn't be and are safe from any meaningful reprimand. As a casual your expected to live your life around a schedule you don't get to see until its released and then your expected to find replacements for shifts you can't make. Hours are never guaranteed but there is much lip service on how there are so many hours available, which you find out goes to facility operators favorites and everyone else gets few. The work load is often too heavy for one but that's how they like to schedule it. On the bright side you get lots of opportunity to train yourself...most of your coworkers are good and want to help as much as they can but they are also stuck in the same situation.

A typical day at work in this position over the fall-winter term includes communicating with patrons and the general public as a lifeguard while also maintaining a safe, clean, and manageable pool environment. In the spring-summer term, work was a bit more busy, as it was the busiest time of the year, mainly due to the fact that an outdoor pool was present in the work environment. I have learned a variety of communication skills and first aid techniques being in this position for three years. It was a team environment, so co-workers were very diligent and was very good with communication with fellow co-workers and myself. Hardest part of the job is the consistency of enforcing rules onto the general public (mainly children, young teen, and teen). Most enjoyable part of the job was working alongside a great team of co-workers.

The job in itself is terrific. There are amazing coworkers and you get constant training through Inservices. Teaching lessons can be fun, but be prepared to be in the water teaching for long hours.
Often there are times that management does not step up to the plate or are not even present at work. Management will often ask you to do jobs outside of your training/pay grade and not compensate you for it. 
Except for a few positions at each pool, everyone is a casual employee, which means that there are no benefits that come with the job. You have to work a ridiculous amount of hours to be considered to apply for City benefits as a casual worker. This usually means many years as most casual workers only get about 10-20 hours per week.
I worked for the City for many years, and overall enjoyed my time. It is great pay and putting management aside, the City of Red Deer is a great place to work. 

City workers can get a bad rep. You hear the comments about being lazy and admittedly a lot of this is deserved. Public Works and Parks are horribly unorganized and should be seriously looked at by HR/City Manager. The Electric Light and Power and Environmental Services departments are run very well and the workers are very skilled and hard working. I worked in Environmental Services for Construction and Maintenance. They build and fix the water and sewer system. These guys worked really hard and the work was rewarding but the leadership was hit or miss. The Construction Lead Foreman was the best boss I’ve ever worked for, he knew the job, led by example and was well respected. On the other hand the superintendent was awful. I can’t think of a single time he provided any real value to anyone and he thought of his workers as numbers rather than people.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The stability of being home every day. I came from the oil patch where I was away all the time. We were just starting a family then and it was important for me to be there. The City of Red Deer gave me many opportunities to excel, and grow as an individual. I believe I did. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Shift work, plain and simple. If you have never worked night shifts you will never know the toll it puts on your body, mind and family. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I worked for the Roads Department. There are 4 seasons, the job was always changing. That was what I liked the most.  You never became stuck in a rut.

My day started with a number of assigned duties in different parts of the city. Typically I would plan my day so I could accomplish everything before the laborers would arrive to start prepping the site. I had to set up safety barriers to protect the laborers from traffic. Once this was done I would operate whatever heavy machinery was needed to complete the job; ie.: grader, backhoe, etc. The hardest part of the job was dealing with the public...drivers who seemed to think the barriers and warnings didn't apply to them. At the end of the day I felt pretty good about getting the job done.

You got to be a full-time permanent employee to be able to reap and enjoy the benefits of working for the City. The job itself is not very hard although it can be very physical. Consistent hours are also a plus because you get full pay every payday and you can plan ahead of time. The only downside is that the regular work schedule is mostly evening/nights which can be hard if you prefer work/life balance. Overall, it is a great department to work for.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Facilities assistant 14 salaries reported	$23.15 per hour
Laborer 10 salaries reported	$34.06 per hour
Operator 9 salaries reported	$35.40 per hour
Lifeguard 7 salaries reported	$29.26 per hour
Operations associate 16 salaries reported	$35.83 per hour

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