Commissioners sweeten pot for kitchen workers

LACONIA — The decision to privatize the Belknap County Nursing Home kitchen has been good news for the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton.

As of Wednesday, seven people have quit their jobs at the nursing home, with four planning to go to work at the veterans home, where they can continue to stay in the New Hampshire Retirement System and have state-covered health care, Commissioner David DeVoy said Wednesday.

“It’s a good thing for them,” he said. “If they want to keep the government pensions and benefits, it might be the best fit for them.”

On April 4, county commissioners, citing high turnover and the difficulty of hiring new employees, decided to have a private contractor, Glendale Senior Dining of Manchester, operate the kitchen.

Glendale was required to hire all the kitchen workers who wanted to stay.

The workers expressed disappointment when the privatization decision was made, saying they would lose their zero-premium health coverage under the private contractor and no longer be part of the state retirement system.

On Monday, commissioners approved a package of benefits to ease the transition for workers who agree to stay.

That package includes $500 payments to each worker who remains and goes to work for Glendale, with an additional payment of $1,000 if they stay with the company for a year, plus $200 per month for the first 12 months of employment with Glendale. They will also get to keep 30 percent of accrued sick time.

The kitchen, which also provides food for the county jail, is run by a salaried full-time manager, who presides over an authorized staff of 14 full-time hourly employees and 10 part-time workers. It serves three meals a day to 90 nursing home residents and about 90 county jail inmates.

The workers’ union contract ran out at the end of last year.

County Administrator Debra Shackett said Glendale will likely take over the kitchen in mid-May, but will also provide personnel should additional staffing be needed before then.

She also said that county workers who take jobs with Glendale will get immediate medical coverage. The company is waiving the normal 60-day waiting period.

She and DeVoy said they didn’t know how much medical premiums are for workers at Glendale. Company representatives did not return a request for comment.

Shackett said the starting wage for a dietary aid, or food-service employee, for the county is $10.78, compared to $13.25 for Glendale Senior Dining. The private company pays a starting cook $17.50, compared to $14.11 for the county.