As they continue to recover from Hurricane Florence, employers in the Wilmington area have been working through a number of issues, including employee schedules and pay for hourly workers.

CastleBranch, for example, paid its hourly workers from Sept. 12, as they were making personal plans to prepare for the hurricane that made landfall Sept. 14, until Sept. 17. The background screening and compliance tracking firm headquartered in Wilmington has also been serving its employees hot meals regularly, and on Monday, the workers and their families could choose meals from six food trucks at the company's Sir Tyler Drive campus.

Three-quarters of CastleBranch's employee base of more than 400 people are hourly workers.

CastleBranch CEO Brett Martin said that he feels Wilmington's leadership and services "did fantastic" during the hurricane, but as officials look at how better to prepare for such storms, "I think that's when you start to explore questions like, 'What does the storm mean to hourly workers in our community, and how in the future can we create an environment where the hourly workers aren't bearing an unfair burden of the storm's economic aftermath?

"It's a complicated question, because it also means small businesses might have to step up to bear that burden, too. And that's a different conversation. But truthfully, there's probably some other avenues that we could explore, other ways that government could get involved" in the lost wage problem, Martin said.

In particular, employees in the tourism and service industries in the area likely are feeling the pain of the wage loss, as most restaurants, stores and other businesses that rely on daily customers had to close, in some cases before, during and after the storm. 

While workers who lost wages can apply for Disaster Unemployment Assistance via a phone call or online through the N.C. Department of Commerce's Division of Employment Security, the division appeared to be working this week to handle an understandable increase in calls.

"Please note, we are processing calls as quickly as possible," the state website says. "You may experience longer than usual wait times while on hold."

The site is careful to explain that individuals who lost wages because of a disaster may qualify, with more information on who might be eligible available via a frequently-asked-questions page.

Martin said he believes Wilmington should study the issue.

"I think we should explore how our hourly employees did in the storm, and I don't think they did very well because it's hard to come back after a storm possibly losing a week's or more worth of wages, losing your roof, losing your house, your car and then realize you're not going to have those wages that you normally have to lift yourself up," Martin said. "That's another storm. That's a second storm."

CastleBranch is one of many Wilmington-area businesses aiming to provide employees with support as a result of the hurricane. Wilmington Health, one of the region's largest health care organizations, is another example. For the most part, said Wilmington Health CEO Jeff James, most of Wilmington Health's staff continued to be paid and have also been allowed to use days off they haven't accrued yet in some cases.

Wilmington Health's leadership team also came up with creative ways to provide childcare, at Wilmington Health's expense, to employees, because area schools remained closed this week as a result of the storm.

"We were essentially looking at what it was that employees needed in all areas, and this particular area, child care, came up because it's something that we needed, not only to help them be able to get back to work, but also to somewhat of a normal life," James said.

Ian Tooley, Wilmington Health facilities manager, knew of Missoula Children's Theatre (MCT), an internationally known children's theater group in his previous hometown of Missoula, Montana. St. Andrews Covenant Presbyterian Church provided the space, and Wilmington Health booked an MCT team to fly to Wilmington for a theater skills camp. The camp is hosting 30 to 40 children, including the children of Wilmington Health and New Hanover Regional Medical Center employees, Tooley said.

"This was a win-win for everybody all the way around," Tooley said.

Wilmington Health officials also connected with Fitness After School Training (FAST) in Wilmington to obtain spots for 20 children. They said other examples of employee support include connecting workers affected by the storm with the supplies they need and other relief efforts. 

At least a dozen Wilmington Health employees lost their homes in Hurricane Florence, said Melissa Odom, director of strategic innovations for Wilmington Health.

In another Wilmington employer example, Wells Insurance paid hourly employees through Sept. 19, said Cheryl Morlote, director of human resources for Wells Insurance and board adviser for the Lower Cape Fear Human Resource Association. She said some businesses have insurance policies that can help a business cover lost wages. 

Morlote said it's important for employees to be reminded to be kind to themselves because they're dealing with the enormous stress of coping with a natural disaster.

"It's important I think for employers to do whatever they can do as far as giving their employees information about what services are out there," she said.

ABOVE: Shelby Art of Missoula Children's Theatre works with children at St. Andrews Covenant Presbyterian Church during a theater skills camp held this week and paid for by Wilmington Health to help its employees and others as area public schools remain closed because of Hurricane Florence. (Photo courtesy of Wilmington Health)