Worthington adds pay bump to attract more aquatics staff members to Community Center

Stephen Borgna, ThisWeek
·2 min read
The pools at the Worthington Community Center have operated under limited hours and programming because of a shortage in aquatics staff members. The city has added a pay bump to try to attract more job candidates.
The pools at the Worthington Community Center have operated under limited hours and programming because of a shortage in aquatics staff members. The city has added a pay bump to try to attract more job candidates.

The Worthington Community Center has added $2 in premium pay per hour for its aquatics positions to try to increase staffing numbers, according to parks and recreation director Darren Hurley.

Hurley said the shortage reflects national trends.

“There’s actually a national shortage of lifeguards across the country,” he said. “That was actually happening to some degree before (the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic). But it’s really impacted us specifically and, I think, the region in terms of lifeguards.

“We’ve gotten to the point where we’re not open our normal hours and offering all of our normal programming, so we felt like we needed to take some steps to try to be able to restore all of that.”

Hurley said the Community Center has a variety of aquatics staff positions, including lifeguards, instructors and pool managers.

For lifeguards, pay starts at $13.03 per hour but increases to $15.03 per hour with the $2 premium pay.

The center and its aquatics areas had been closed because of COVID-19 but have reopened with limited hours and programming due to staffing shortages.

The hours for the community center pool are updated weekly based on staffing and lifeguard availability, according to city spokesperson Anne Brown. The schedule is available at worthington.org.

Family and open swimming is available only for members, Worthington residents and their guests.

The pools at the Worthington Community Center have operated under limited hours and programming because of a shortage in aquatics staff members. The city has added a pay bump to try to attract more job candidates.
The pools at the Worthington Community Center have operated under limited hours and programming because of a shortage in aquatics staff members. The city has added a pay bump to try to attract more job candidates.

“Because of both following some COVID protocols and staffing restrictions, we’ve not gotten back to the point of what we’d call fully open prior to the pandemic,” Hurley said.

Hurley said the Community Center needs at least 10 additional aquatics staff members, and the city will pay to acquire the necessary training.

“If you can swim, the city will work with you on all of the certifications,” he said. “We just need you to get in touch with us.

“The easiest way is through our city’s website, and of course you’re also welcome to just come into the Community Center or get in touch with our aquatics supervisor, and we will get you all the information you’ll need.”

sborgna@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekSteve

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Worthington adds pay bump to attract more aquatics staff members to Community Center