Call us! We can be reached at 416 423 3600 or otbu.office@d12.osstf.ca

While Facebook and social media can be a tool for advice, get the real answers directly from your union. We would be very happy to hear from you!

OT Handbook 2022-23

Payroll Clerks:

Payroll : 416-395-9642

The OTBU Handbook found on the Home Page in the Documents & Forms Box has a list of who to contact for Payroll/Benefits and Pension questions.

Benefits Inquiries (main reception )416-395-9642

The OTBU Handbook found on the Home Page in the Documents & Forms Box has a list of who to contact for Payroll/Benefits and Pension questions.

OT Handbook 2022-2023

Best to trying phone AND send an email to Payroll/Benefits.

1. Log onto your Smartfind Profile. Under the ‘Schedule’ menu button, check your ‘Locations’ and ‘Classifications’.
2. If locations where you are willing to work, or the classification codes for courses you are qualified or willing to teach are missing here, than log into the Staff section of the TDSB website and click on ‘Employee Services.’ Under ‘Smartfind Express’, select ‘Teachers/Occasional Teachers’.
3. Download the ‘Occasional Teacher Profile’ PDF. Add any additional locations and classification codes.
4. Email this form as an attachment to dispatchteaching@tdsb.on.ca . Your revisions will then be reviewed by the TDSB’s Occasional Teaching Office.

If you have any difficulties with this process, contact the Smartfind Teaching Dispatch Help Desk at 416-338-4747 Ext. 2, or the OTBU office at 416-423-3600.

Members should be aware that as the number of unfilled daily jobs increases the TDSB and the school administrators tend to panic. This may lead to new hiring to the Roster.

The Bargaining Unit can only prevent the TDSB from hiring if we can point to the fact that the number of unfilled jobs is not increasing but is following a normal pattern for this time of the year. Take the work while it is available.

Download and fill out the three forms listed below.
Safe and Caring Incident Reporting Form- Part1
Bullying and Harassment Form
Concern Form

The Bullying and Harassment Form is only sent to the OTBU. The other forms are at your discretion.

Report it to the Principal and call your Union.

The OTBU Handbook found on the Home Page in the Documents & Forms Box has a section of what to do. See the Table of Contents.See Appendix A

OT Handbook 2022-2023

DEFINITIONS
Workplace Violence:
a) the exercise of physical force by a person against a worker, in the workplace, that causes or could cause physical injury to the worker;

b) an attempt to exercise physical force against a worker, in the workplace, that could cause physical injury to the worker; and

c) a statement or behaviour that is reasonable for the worker to interpret as a threat to exercise physical force against the worker, in the workplace, that could cause physical injury to the worker.

Assailant:
An individual who has threatened, attempted or has exercised physical force that has caused or could have caused physical injury. This includes: students; co-workers; parents; guardians; or visitors.

The Education Act’s definition is as follows:

" For the purposes of this Act, a teacher is an occasional teacher if he or she is employed by a board to teach as a substitute for a teacher or temporary teacher who is or was employed by the board in a position that is part of its regular teaching staff including continuing education teachers but,

a) if the teacher substitutes for a teacher who has died during a school year, the teacher’s employment as a substitute for him or for her shall not extend past the end of the school year in which the death occurred, and;

b) if the teacher substitutes for a teacher who is absent from his or her duties for a temporary period, the teacher’s employment as a substitute for him or for her shall not extend past the end of the school year after his or her absence begins."

Occasional and Contract teachers share many common traits: both should be certificated by the College of Teachers, both should pay dues to OSSTF, both should pay into the Teachers’ Pension Plan, both are responsible for the new curriculum, both are subject to the bizarre exigencies of teacher testing and re-certification...the list goes on.

Yes. Occasional teachers who pay union dues, are members like other teachers and have the rights and responsibilities as spelled out in their own collective agreement.

Yes, those situations are covered under the provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act of Ontario. Employees cannot under the law be disciplined for refusing unsafe work under Section 43.

Steps to be taken:

1. Report the problem.

2. Ensure the safety of the students in your care.

3. Remain in a safe place.

4. If you still feel there are "reasonable grounds" to refuse, you, your representative (the worksite Health and Safety Officer) or the employer can call a government inspector.

5. It is highly recommended that you contact District Office.

A casual occasional teacher shall not be assigned a workload in excess of 1.0 FTE. The ideal workload for a casual occasional hired for a full-time assignment is 3.0 periods plus 0.5 period for other assigned duties, however some administrators assign more duties to support the needs of the school. A daily OT can be asked to do a full period on-call. Call the OTBU office if you are being regularly assigned full period on-calls.

A LTO teacher shall only assume the assigned duties of the absent teacher being replaced, and shall be bound by all the workload provisions of the absent teacher. The workload for a LTO hired for a full time assignment is 3.0 periods plus 0.5 period for other assigned duties.

If you are not restricted as a condition of employment, then yes, schools can specifically request you by one of two methods:

• They may personally contact you tobe pre-booked. Once this is done the school should immediately enter the job in SFE to provide you with a job number;

or

• The school may enter the job into SFE and specify you as the requested OccasionalTeacher. When you receive a call for a job under this circumstance, either accept or decline the job immediately.

You may receive calls for subjects/grades you did not specify on your profile for the following reasons:

You may be on a school’s priority list and they wish to have you for any job in their school.

SFE will search for a subject/grade qualified occasional teacher and if no subject/grade qualified occasional teacher is available you could be the next occasional teacher called.

The decision whether or not you take these jobs is yours.

from the Collective Agreement

Collective Agreement

20.5.0. The Board will review the composition of the Occasional Teacher List and may, at its discretion, remove the name of any Occasional Teacher who has not taught for at least twenty (20) full time equivalent days in the school year.

.
A copy of the Collective Agreement can be found on the Home page.

SFE has not made a mistake, you will be called about your job cancellation. The new job offer is an indication that the job you previously accepted has been cancelled.

Sometimes a situation may arise where a job may be extended. When a job is extended it may conflict with a previously accepted job. It is recommended for continuity of the student’s program, that the Occasional Teacher remains in the current job if possible.

In order for the current job to be extended, the occasional teacher must cancel their previously accepted job as soon as possible.

The Board has an obligation to make every effort to have a fully qualified teacher in every classroom. The Dispatch System will continue to call for an occasional teacher even when the students have already entered the class. However, if you are considering accepting a late call, you should to be ready to fly out the door as soon as you hang up the phone. You should always consider distance and travel time. If you live in Pickering and the job is in Etobicoke, leave that job for someone who lives closer.

If you are planning to be unavailable for m ore than a two (2) week period, you need to complete a Miscellan eous Leave From (See Appendix F), also available on the TDSB Occasional Teachers website.

You need to block yourself on SFE and make the following choice: “Do you wish to be called for future jobs?”

If yes, SFE will continue to call you for jobs beyond your unavailable period ?

If you are planning to be out of the country, make sure you click that you do not want to be called for future jobs otherwise your voice mail may fill up with SFE messages.

Ten. After ten consecutive days the job is considered an LTO, and is made retroactive. Contact your O.A.

You need to cancel all occasional teaching jobs that you accepted prior to getting your LTO.

Applying to Posted Long Term Occasional Teaching Assignments
LTO job postings are available online and posted for 4 business days
To access LTO job postings and the required application form(s):

• Go to the TDSB website www.tdsb.on.ca
• Select Staff and then proceed to login (see page 19 for login instructions)
• Once in, select Employee Services
• Click on the Job Postings link on the left
• Then click on Long Term Occasional

You may select and sort job postings by panel, all zones, or by individual zones. To look at an individual posting for more detail, you need to click on the Job Titles highlighted in green.

Completed application packages must be sent to the school principal for each LTO job posting. Refer to job posting for submission details

Once the occasional teacher has been hired into the LTO position it is the responsibility of the school to ensure that a job is created (usually 3-4 weeks) on SmartFindExpress until the LTO assignment is processed so that the occasional teacher is paid in a timely manner and does not receive calls for other work. If you are creating jobs in SFE for an absent teacher on sick leave, and the teacher is then put “on leave”, all future dated jobs will be cancelled in SFE. You will need to monitor this to ensure that a vacancy job is created in order to pay the occasional teacher until the occasional teacher is set up as the LTO.

On the 10th day of the assignment it is the responsibility of the school to submit the paperwork to Employee Services in order to have the Occasional Teacher set up as an LTO. If you receive a cancellation call for a job in SFE where you have been working towards your 10 day status, you should check with the school regarding your status. The teacher you are replacing may have been put on leave which caused all future dated jobs to be cancelled. Once the LTO appointment is set up and the LTO's name appears under the school list in SmartFindExpress, it is the responsibility of the school to advise the LTO to block themselves on the SFE dispatch system for the duration of their assignment. If the LTO does not do this, he/she will continue to receive phone calls for work. Information on how to block themselves is available in the Quick Reference Cards at the back of this Handbook.

If you have been hired as a half time LTO, you will need to block yourself off by modifying your daily availability. If you are a half time LTO who works every other day you need to follow the same procedure under daily availability and block the days that you are not available. If you are a half time LTO who works every other day as an occasional teacher, you need to remind the schools where you work as an occasional teacher that they need to split your full day job into two half day assignments for two different days. Adjusting your daily availability in SFE will need to be done on a weekly basis.

Once your LTO has ended, it is the responsibility of the Occasional Teacher to ensure that he/she is available again on the SmartFindExpress system to receive calls for daily work.

Correct Placement on the LTO salary grid requires:
A. Your most current rating statement and rating statement covering letter
B. Recognized teaching experience

If you do not have an up-to-date rating statement, or proof of recognized teaching experience, you need to:

• Complete the online Letter of Intent form (see appendix D - "sample" Letter of Intent) via the TDSB web under Employee Services/Forms/Occasional Teaching/ Change in Salary - Online Letter of Intent, for QECO if you do not have a rating, prior to the end of the LTO.
• Change in Salary - Online Letter of Intent

You need to complete the above online Letter of Intent before the end of the LTO to retroactively receive pay. If you do not submit the letter of Intent online before the end of your current LTO, your new rating statement will be effective on your next LTO.

A. Qualifications (Rating Statement)
QECO Statement of Evaluation
- Your LTO salary placement will be at Category A1 until you send a copy of your QECO Statement of Evaluation to the Employee Services, Occasional Teaching Records.
- Salary adjustments are subject to the provisions of Bill 115.

• Secondary - OSSTF Certification Rating Statement

- Your LTO salary placement will be Group 1 until you send a copy of your QECO statement to the board

B. Proof of Recognized Teaching Experience

• Provide evidence that you were certified to teach during those times.
• Provide evidence of teaching experience with any school board or ministry inspected private schools.
• Contact previous boards to request a statement of teaching experience on official board letterhead showing the start and end dates of employment (day/month/year) and whether contract or LTO, full or part-time experience.
• Letters from school principals or staff will not be accepted for salary credit. Contracts and Record of Employments will not be accepted.

Short Term (Daily) Occasional Teacher pay rates are established through negotiations with Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (representing the Elementary Occasional Teachers) and Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (representing the Secondary Occasional Teachers). It may take one or two pay periods to see changes to pay rates.

A Long Term Occasional Teacher will be paid in accordance with their appropriate grid placement (recognized teaching experience and qualifications) in accordance with his or her Collective Agreement. Long Term Occasion pay will be retroactive to the first day of the assignment. The annual salary on the salary grid is divided by 194 (representing the number of school days in a school year). The long term occasional teacher is paid 1/194 of the annual grid rate for each day worked (including applicable professional activity day(s).

All Occasional Teachers are paid by direct bank deposit every 2nd Thursday in accordance with the pay schedule Pay is always 2 weeks in arrears. Direct deposit requires the completion of an authorization form and a voided cheque.

Experience with other Boards does not count.

Members should have receive an email from the TDSB about renewing their place on the Occasional sometime near the end of May/start of June.

In order to remain on the OT list you are required to complete the online renwal at www.tdsb.on.ca. YOU MUST RENEW ONLINE

The online renewal form will be on the TDSB website starting June 1st.

1. Go to www.tdsb.on.ca
2. Click on Staff at the top of the page
3. Login in with your account
4. Click on the TDSBWEB link on the Welcome to the MyTDSB page
5. Click on Employee Services, follow through to forms

If you experience difficulties logging in, contact the Client Services Desk at 416-395-4357, option 5.

If you failed to apply to be reinstated to the OT Roster by the July 30th deadline or did not complete the minimum of 20 days required to remain on the Secondary OT roseter wyou will be removed from the OT roster.

You can apply for Re-Instatement but this must be done before the end of July.

After July 30th. starting August 1st, you then have to apply through Recruiting .

The OTBU Handbook found on the Home Page in the Documents &Forms Box has inofrmation on who to contact..

Because Occasional teachers are not contractual, you may be eligible to apply for Employment Insurance when work is not available, i.e. March Break, Winter Break, Summer holidays, etc.

There are minimum hours that are required for these applications. If you are applying for a
maternity leave, it requires a minimum of 600 hours,

When work is not available, the Board automatically sends Record of Employment forms electronically to Service Canada from the Board’s HR office.

To start your application log on to
www.servicecanada.gc.ca.

Please direct all inquiries to Service Canada
Follow the links
My Service Canada Account
Access your Employment Insurance information
Employment Insurance
Employment Insurance for OSSTF Members


The OTBU Handbook found on the Home Page in the Documents &Forms Box has a section of Benefits.

To reinstate your membership, you will have to complete the Membership Reinstatement form and pay an additional penalty fee.

You can also email, mail or fax your signed Membership Reinstatement form to renew your Certificate of Qualification and Registration to the OCT. Allow up to four weeks to return your membership status to good standing.

Link to the reinstatement formMembership Reinstatement Form
or you can contact the OCT

1. Log onto your Smartfind Profile. Under the ‘Schedule’ menu button, check your ‘Locations’ and ‘Classifications’.

2. If locations where you are willing to work, or the classification codes for courses you are qualified or willing to teach are missing here, than log into the Staff section of the TDSB website and click on ‘Employee Services.’ Under ‘Smartfind Express’, select ‘Teachers/Occasional Teachers’.

3. Download the ‘Occasional Teacher Profile’ PDF. Add any additional locations and classification codes.

4. Email this form as an attachment to dispatchteaching@tdsb.on.ca . Your revisions will then be reviewed by the TDSB’s Occasional Teaching Office.

If you have any difficulties with this process, contact the Smartfind Teaching Dispatch Help Desk at 416-338-4747 Ext. 2, or the OTBU office at 416-423-3600.

The OTBU Handbook found on the Home Page in the Documents &Forms Box has information on SFE.

.

The link is in the documents box on the home page.