Paula Peter said she was not impressed that the government used taxpayer money to send her a thank you letter.
She was working at Montague Office Supplies in the Down East Mall when a man entered the store to drop off posters concerning the Employment Standards Act.
He took her name and promised a call in a day or two to follow up.
A couple of days later she received a registered letter thanking her for allowing the government staff member to leave copies of the ‘Employment Standards and You’ poster and the Guide to Employment Standards.
The letter expressed a hope that the person dropping off the material was able to answer any questions she may have had.
Peter didn’t ask him any questions, she said.
“He didn’t ask me any questions, either.”
Taxpayers are paying for this, Peter said.
“These registered letters are five to 10 dollars to post out. How many went out?
“There was really no need for them to send out a letter when they could have just picked up the phone and saved all that money. It could have been used for something else.”
Peter was not told to display the poster. She put it out in the back of the store, she said.
“It’s on my desk actually. The staff knows the regulations anyway.”
Tracey Campbell is the owner of On the Fringe Hair and Esthetics in the Down East Mall.
The same official looking man approached her with the poster.
He just gave it to her, asked if they had any questions and left. That was it, Campbell said.
“All of a sudden, I started hearing people were getting letters, but I didn’t get one.”
Even though Campbell has no idea why she did not received a letter, she said she thinks it was a terrible waste of taxpayer dollars to send them.
“There are way more cost-effective ways to do that. Just send it in the mail.”
She added the poster wouldn’t have mattered to her business anyway. Everyone who works at her business is self-employed, Campbell said.
“Those rules and regulations don’t apply to me.”
Katie MacDonald is the communications officer for Workplace and Advanced Learning.
An email statement to the Guardian says to help employers and workers understand their rights and obligations under the Employment Standards Act, the Employment Standards Officer makes community presentations, does in-person visits with employers and shares print and digital information related to employment standards.
The Employment Standards Branch does send important documents, like legal documents, by courier.
However, sending non-essential letters by courier, like thank you letters, was an oversight.
