Certification, Experience and Pay  

Understanding the Salary Grid

Employed teachers will be paid in accordance with the Collective Agreement.  A salary grid is a matrix identifying annual salaries based on:

• Years of experience (vertical movement on grid)

• Group1, 2, 3, or 4 (horizontal movement on grid)

It is the teacher's responsibility to ensure that the Employer has the necessary information and documents to be placed at the appropriate position on the salary grid.

Please read below for more information.

Understanding "Years of Experience"

New Teachers:  All new teachers, including teachers on a Letter of Permission, have the opportunity to submit to the Employer, past teaching experience (including Long-term Occasional Assignments, College of Applied Arts and Technology, University, or Faculty/College of Education or teaching in an elementary or secondary school outside Canada), and other related experience in a profession, industry or trade  deemed relevant by the Employer to the teacher’s assignment.

The Employer, given the above information, will determine the amount of "years" that is applicable and will credit you with such years on the salary grid, retroactive to your date of hire into the Bargaining Unit.

Advancing Vertically on the Salary Grid:  Once employed in this Board, a teacher accumulates teaching experience, from year to year.  Such experience is limited to experience acquired within the Board, including long-term occasional teacher in the secondary panel.  A teacher who was on an approved 52-week pregnancy/parental leave (statutory leave) will have that experience accumulate (as if you were not on a pregnancy/parental leave).

On September 1st, the accumulated experience is totaled.  If the total results in partial years, the partial year is rounded up or down.

Example?  A Teacher begins in Sept 04 and is recognized as having 3.55 years of prior teaching & professional experience.

Salary Sept 04:  3.55 years gets rounded up to 4.0 years on grid

works part-time UCDSB teacher in 04-05: 0.67 years

 

Salary Sept 05:  3.55 + 0.67 years = 4.22 years gets rounded down to 4.0 years on grid

works part-time UCDSB teacher in 05-06: 0.67 years .  Also works LTO for 0.33 years

 

Salary Sept 06:  3.55 + 0.67 + 0.67 + 0.33 = 5.22 years gets rounded down to 5.0 years on grid

Increase entitlement to 1.0 contract in 06-07.  Goes on Preg/Par leave for whole year and returns in Sept 07

 

Salary Sept 07:  3.55 + 0.67 + 0.67 + 0.33 + 1.0 = 6.22 years gets rounded down to 6.0 years on grid

Understanding "Group 1, 2, 3, 4"

The horizontal placement on the salary grid (Group 1, 2, 3, or 4) entirely depends on the group that you have been formally recognized by the OSSTF Certification Division (Provincial).  The Certification Division, given approved guidelines, will assess your "grouping" based on the education you have received (includes education courses, Basic Qualification courses, Additional Basic Qualifications courses, Specialist courses, Honour Specialist courses etc.) and, in the case of the trades, professional or otherwise, seals and other pertinent information.

Note that the term "group" is synonymous with the term "category" (in this website).

The OSSTF Certification Division will only issue you a statement identifying your grouping if you possess an Interim Certificate of Qualifications or Certificate of Qualifications from the College of Teachers.  Teachers on a Letter of Permission will only be paid at Group 1.

Please note, 

• teachers who have a QECO rating must get an OSSTF group rating in order to be paid beyond Group 1.
• teachers on a Letter of Permission, who, during the currency of the Letter of Permission, receive an Certificate of Qualifications from the College of Teachers, have the right to  apply to OSSTF Certification Division for a "group" rating statement.