Peninsula has helped us ensure we’re doing the proper paperwork and dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s when we need to

Hopf Mechanical and Hydraulics is a chain of heavy duty and automotive mechanic shops in Brooks, Alberta. The company also offers commercial vehicle inspections and provides repairs for construction, agriculture, fuel transport and rail.

It was started in 2004 and is currently owned and run locally by Brooks residents Craig Hopf and Jason Bolen. Hopf Mechanical and Hydraulics has three locations, two in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan.

Challenges

Hopf Mechanical and Hydraulics was referred to Peninsula by word of mouth. Jason Bolen, owner and manager, says they wanted to make sure they were compliant with the occupational health and safety legislation.

“We felt we were falling behind the times in terms of HR and health and safety processes. We wanted to make sure all our paperwork and processes were up to date,” he says. Our employee handbooks were outdated, and we needed someone to help us with that.”

Besides support with employee contracts, Peninsula’s attendance logging app called Blip has been especially useful as well, says Jason.

“We have three locations and we have been able to have everybody punch in and out via the app,” he says. Peninsula clients who sign up for BrightHR — an online human resource management software — can upgrade their clocking system with free access to Blip.

COVID-19

Jason says as soon as the pandemic broke out, Peninsula contacted them about a COVID-19 policy. “They helped us with our COVID-19 policy. Everything was great,” he says.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, Hopf Mechanical and Hydraulics had to lay off some employees. They currently have 15 employees.

“Peninsula helped us with the letter we presented to the employees that had been laid off. They helped us with some administrative stuff as well,” he says.