Frequently Asked Questions

• You believe you might be disciplined by the administration (i.e. principal/vice-principal). 

• The school’s administration has asked you to contact the Federation.

• You are told by the administration that you are being sent home.

• As soon as you become aware of an accusation against you of inappropriate touch, physical assault, or sexual assault. 

•  You receive notice from the College of Teachers that you are being investigated.

•  You are questioned or might be investigated by the Police or CAS.

In all of these situations, indicate that you will be happy to cooperate, but that you must seek counsel before meeting or answering questions. Call the OTBU office at: 613-729-7211

• For your own records, write down your recollections of the day and class in question (if known), or the possible interactions you think may be the subject of the investigation. Do not talk to colleagues or anyone else about the situation because they could be required to be witnesses as a result.

• Contact the Federation office and ask to speak with the OTBU President on an urgent matter.

• All Secondary OTs are eligible to apply to any LTO posting for which they are qualified and are willing to accept.

• Be sure your contact info, cover letter, résumé, qualifications statement, QECO statement, etc., are up to date.

• Watch for major rounds of LTO postings on ATE and the HR Secondary Occasional Teachers Conference Google Group; major rounds occur in August and January, with additional LTO postings advertised as required.

• Watch for Secondary Vacancy (External) Lists on ATE and on the HR Secondary Occasional Teachers Conference Google Group - posts will describe who is eligible to apply and how to apply, as well as the order of consideration of applicants.

• Be sure that you have activated the ‘job alert’ feature in ApplytoEducation in order to be notified electronically of all postings.

• Check confirmation of your application on your 'Jobs Applied To' page in ATE.

• https://www.applytoeducation.com/applicant-tips-and-tutorials-topics/search-job-postings-and-apply

• Please refrain from emailing the school admin team directly regarding a vacancy. Following the closing date, you will receive an email from the school if you have been selected for an interview.

Here are a few of the things you may do:

• Attend OTBU Executive Meetings 

• Please contact the president for the Exec meeting dates and give us a couple of days' notice so that we can be ready to welcome you!

• Join an OTBU committee

• Look at the D25 Events & Committees page of our website!

• Attend OTBU activities

• Visit our website frequently and take a look at what we have going on! Have you subscribed to our newsletter? We send out monthly newsletters with current news and events. 

Occasional and LTO pay schedules are found in the OCDSB Payroll Conference Google Group in two separate posts; they are MS Excel spreadsheets; there are helpful links there explaining how to access pay stubs and how to update banking information. We've exported them into PDFs for you accessible on our website:

Daily OTs

LTOs

The LTO pay grid is found in the OCDSB HR Secondary Occasional Teachers Conference Google Group. We have also attached it to the LTOs section of the website.

LTOs: https://www.osstfbenefits.ca/long-term-occasional/

According to canada.ca if you teach casually (irregularly filling in for absent teachers) or as a substitute (replacing another teacher for part or all of a school year), you may be able to receive regular benefits during non-teaching periods. Check eligibility conditions. 

Visit our PD Fund page on our website. We even have a separate PD Fund FAQ page!

Accepting a daily assignment:

• Consult the EasyConnect and Job Board Manual for Occasional Teachers - Updated January 2025 that you received in the email confirming your approval to the OT list.

• To be on the call-out list, you must have qualifications on the OCT for the specific subject areas.

• Be sure to regularly update your preferences in ATE, indicating which subject areas you are willing to accept assignments for; if you are qualified for the subject, a check mark automatically appears in the “approved” column. Also, update locations where you are willing to accept assignments.

Applying for an LTO/Contract:

• All qualified secondary Occasional Teachers are eligible to apply for LTO postings for which they are qualified (i.e. have qualifications on their OCT).

• Each LTO posting on the ATE Job Postings page will state: “The successful candidate will be in good standing with the Ontario College of Teachers and possess the following:” followed by more specific qualifications from the applicants’ OCT Divisional Qualifications.

The OTBU Collective Agreement consists of two sections. Part A is the Central Agreement negotiated between Provincial OSSTF and the Ontario government. It determines increases to wage and salary levels, benefits, sick leave and class size, among other issues. Part B is the Local Agreement negotiated between the OTBU and the OCDSB, and it covers issues related to working conditions, employment matters specific to occasional teachers and labour rights, among other topics.

OSSTF’s Update publication contains a section called Bargaining 101 with 9 parts, breaking down the process in detail. Check it out! 

The Procedure PR.563.HR (Inclement Weather) applies to Occasional Teachers

Link to Board Policy

• In the event of an employer cancellation on the day of your assignment, you may look for another assignment or report to the cancelled worksite. 

• If you show up to the cancelled assignment, the employer is required to pay for either half the assignment or the full assignment, depending on the original assignment length. You may be assigned other duties, and in such cases, you will be paid for those assigned duties.

Look under "Cancellations" on the Casual Daily OTs page for example scenarios.

Paystub descriptions for earnings and deductions are found in a post from 2018 in the OCDSB Payroll Conference Google Group; they are in two separate MS Excel spreadsheet attachments. We have exported into PDFs for you:

Deductions Codes

Earnings Codes

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EnxEHMTS1GeMG8hOH2XH4HmV-31pwQX3/view?usp=sharing