FAQ

LlamaLink streamlines the process of contacting Substitutes. The immediate benefit is that it makes it easier and faster to contact your substitutes. As more people join and grow the herd, users can make more connections through LlamaLink, ultimately eliminating the need for other forms of networking.

Keep in mind, a positive work environment and competitive wages go a long way when attracting new, as well as maintaining, qualified Substitutes. However, LlamaLink gives you the platform to demonstrate what your centre has to offer, with the help of a detailed public profile specifically aimed at attracting qualified substitutes that would be a good fit for your centre.

You can either sign up each centre individually or include every centre in a single account, depending on your organization’s requirements and practices. We are still working on a solution to streamline this scenario for Phase 2, but it is still entirely possible to benefit from LlamaLink if you use a shared sublist. If you want to discuss this further, please contact Sara directly at sara@llamalink.ca.

Child Care Substitute’s have varying degrees of qualifications and experience. While this information is provided in each Substitute’s profile, it still must be verified by each individual centre that wants to hire them.

Please refer to Section 37 of the B.C. Child Care Licensing Regulations for a chart of replacements’ required qualifications. http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/loo96/loo96/332_2007

Every frontline staff member, plus any other person who is responsible for acquiring Substitutes, as well as the owner/director/coordinator/person in charge. Although not all centres require their frontline staff members to find their own Substitutes, giving them access to the system will allow them to view their centre’s calendar for Substitute shifts and requests before making any formal requests themselves. This can save a lot of time and trouble in communication and planning absences.

This number is separate from the number of frontline workers (staff who work directly with the children/part of ratio/require Substitutes when absent) requested at the time of registration. The cost is based on number of frontline workers, not number of LlamaLink profiles.

The first step filling shifts is creating a sublist. You can recruit through LlamaLink or add all of the names from your current sublist, replacing it altogether with LlamaLink. Once your subs have filled out their availability calendars, you can start creating shifts! As soon as you create a shift, your alert will be transmitted to your chosen available Substitutes. When someone accepts the shift, that person is instantly booked in your centre’s calendar.

The great thing about LlamaLink is that it makes the job of hiring easier without changing your hiring practices. As long as you are acquiring all of the necessary documents and doing the proper background checks required by licensing, your centre can do its own recruiting and hiring based on its values and needs. Then all you need is their e-mail address to invite them to join LlamaLink. If the individual already has a profile, however, you can log in to LlamaLink and invite them to join your official Substitute list, or they can make the request.

To help keep the cost of LlamaLink’s services low due to additional data management and extra administration, as well as to avoid privacy issues, LlamaLink does not keep copies of individual’s documents. Therefore, it is the responsibility of each Child Care Centre to verify qualifications, contact references, and do a criminal record check before the individual starts working with children.

As this can be a lengthy process and time is often of the essence, please contact your local licensing office to find out what kind of health and safety plan you need to have in place if a new Substitute’s CRC is still pending.

It is also helpful to register with the Criminal Records Review Program because as long as the individual in question has had a criminal record check done with the CRRP in the last 5 years, your centre can request to have the results shared with them to receive a free copy in your centre’s name.

Yes. There are 4 tiers of accessibility, and only those with “Administrator” access have the capability of adding and removing Substitutes from an official Substitute.

You still have complete control over your hiring practices and can choose your own rate to pay Substitutes. Also, there is no “per transaction” charge. Just the annual fee for unlimited usage.

Once your e-mail address is in the system, even if it is added by another centre, then your profiles will be linked and you can choose which one you want to view after you log in.

The cost for the service is based on the expected activity of its users, not the size of its database. If there is only one user sending shift requests, it is still servicing ALL frontline employees who need substitutes in their absence. It is important for LlamaLink to know how many employees would potentially need substitutes in their absence to estimate the amount of activity by an organization and cover this cost. This benefits the organization by avoiding “per transaction” fees and allowing for unlimited correspondence between Child Care Centres and Substitutes. A profile for each frontline staff member and administrator provides full transparency between the users in an organization. This also allows you to add more profiles for staff who need access, but do not work front line.

As often as you are available. You can accept full time work if you want, or even take some time off. Just keep your availability calendar updated and accurate, and try to respond to as many alerts as you can, even if it is to decline.

Licensing regulations require all staff to have minimum Responsible Adult qualifications, so this is also required to join LlamaLink. Each licensee has different requirements, so keep this in mind with your expectations for shift requests.

You may refer to Section 37 of the B.C. Child Care Licensing Regulations for a chart of replacements’ required qualifications. You may also check Section 29 for what is needed to qualify as a Responsible Adult, the minimum requirement to work in any licensed Child Care Centre in B.C. http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/loo96/loo96/332_2007

As a Substitute, you can enjoy the LlamaLink service for free.

You would not be employed by LlamaLink. You would be employed by each centre where you work, as different centres have their own criteria.

You do not need to provide any documents for LlamaLink. As you would be employed by each individual centre, they need their own copies of your documents and do their own background checks. Examples: ECE License, First Aid Certificate, Criminal Record Check, References, etc.

As more Child Care Centres in your area join the herd, you can request to join their sublists, and they can request you as well, as long as you make your profile visible to them. As the herd grows, your opportunities for more shifts will grow too. LlamaLink provides the platform to make this process simpler.

Alerts can be sent to more than one Substitute at a time to ensure that the shift gets filled quickly. So, if you want the work, it is important to accept the shift as soon as possible.

As with any job, your hirability partly depends on how dependable you are. So, if you regularly ignore or decline shifts for which you had indicated that you are available, it will make you less reliable and you will likely not receive as many requests in the future.

If you cannot take a shift for which you have been alerted for (it’s understandable to have a last-minute schedule change once in a while), it is very helpful to the Child Care Centre if you decline, rather than ignore, so they can plan accordingly for a staff’s absence as soon as possible.

Each Child Care Centre needs their own copies of your documents and must do their own reference check and criminal record check. One reason we use this system is to keep the cost of LlamaLink low by avoiding unnecessary database fees. It also helps to avoid privacy concerns. If you have a completed criminal record check from the last five years by the CRRP, then the sharing form can be submitted by either you or the Child Care Centre (they must be registered with the CRRP), to receive their own copy for free.

Yes. As long as you have available hours, you can be a Substitute for either your own Child Care Centre (for example, part time preschool teacher subbing in after school care, or vice versa) or another one. Your employee and Substitute profiles will then be linked.

If you get a full-time job or for some other reason need to stop subbing, then you can suspend your profile. This will take you off of sublists so you stop receiving alerts; however, if one day you want to return, you can reactivate your profile without having to register again.

To rejoin sublists, you would need to request to join again, but if they still have copies of your documents and your checks aren’t outdated, it likely wouldn’t be long before you start getting shift alerts again.

Cloud-Based computing is a type of computing that relies on sharing computing resources rather than having local servers or personal devices to handle applications. The word cloud is used as a metaphor for “the Internet,” so the phrase cloud computing means “a type of Internet-based computing,” where different services — such as servers, storage and applications —are delivered to an organization’s computers and devices through the Internet.

SAFARI
Visit llamalink.ca. Tap the Share button on the menu bar. It’s an icon on the right side that’s a box with an arrow sticking out from it. Tap on Add to Home Screen. On the next page you’ll give the shortcut a name and confirm the web address. After that, tap on Add in the upper-right corner to add the shortcut to your home screen.

CHROME
Visit llamalink.ca. Tap the menu button and tap Add to home screen. You’ll be able to enter a name for the shortcut and then Chrome will add it to your home screen. The icon will appear on your home screen like any other app shortcut or widget, so you can drag it around and put it wherever you like.

CHROME
Visit llamalink.ca. Tap the menu button and tap Add to home screen. You’ll be able to enter a name for the shortcut and then Chrome will add it to your home screen

FIREFOX
Launch FireFox and visit llamalink.ca. Tap the menu button, tap the Page option, and tap Add to Home Screen.

IE or FIREFOX
Visit llamalink.ca, click and drag the site’s icon in the address bar. You’ll see an outline of the object appear as you drag. Release the icon on your desktop. A shortcut to the website will appear with the website’s title as the name. The shortcut will use the LlamaLink icon. Double-click the shortcut to open the website.

CHROME
Visit llamalink.ca, click the Chrome Menu button (⋮). You’ll find this in the upper-right corner of the Chrome window. Select “More tools” → “Add to desktop.” A new window will appear. If you don’t see this option, you may not be running the latest version of Chrome. Select “Help” → “About Google Chrome” from the Chrome menu and then install any available updates. Click “Add” to add it to your desktop. You’ll see a new icon on your desktop, double-click the shortcut to open the website.

SAFARI / CHROME / FIREFOX
Visit llamalink.ca, click the address bar. This will reveal the entire address as well as the site’s icon. Click and drag the icon. You’ll see the icon and the site address drag with your mouse cursor. Make sure to click and drag the icon, not the address itself. Release the icon on your desktop. This will create a shortcut to the website. The shortcut will have the same name as the website’s title. Double-click the shortcut to open it. This will open the website in your default web browser.