Designated Occasional Teacher (DOT) is designated to a specific school location for daily occasional teacher work and paid the same rate of $282.46/day ($271.59 + 4% vacation pay). Full time positions, 5 Days Per Week, no paid sick days, and no benefits which are considered Daily OTs under the OCEOTA Collective Agreement. DOTs do receive mileage on a monthly basis for travel when redeployed from one school to another, in accordance with PR 529 FIN – Expense Procedure, this form must be signed by the Principal or Vice Principal. It is the DOT’S responsibility to submit the completed form directly to finance (mileageclaim@ocdsb.ca) for reimbursement.
DOT JOB SPECIFICS
General
- DOTs are Daily OTs and follow the OCEOTA Collective Agreement
- Your DOT assignments are prioritized as: replace an absence that wasn’t filled by ATE, redeployed for same purpose, replacing a series of teachers to repay their missed prep, support students/small groups of a class.
- You’re not an ECE, EA, lunchtime monitor, or Custodian.
- You’ve no sick days but have the same work hours each day.
Duty
- You always get one uninterrupted lunch period of 40 mins during a regular lunch period, no matter your schedule.
- During a day without a teacher absence that you are repaying lost prep, supporting teachers, or No-Teacher-Absent your default schedule is no prep + no duty.
- If in for one teacher who is away; follow their scheduled duty and preps.
- Your only duty/prep is within the absent teacher’s schedule while you are covering for them. You are not on the Duty Schedule.
- In for multiple teachers who are away; you cover the duty within their part of your schedule, notwithstanding a 40 min lunch.
Redeployed
- Inform the dispatcher if arrival/departure coverage adjustments need to be made for the extra travel time you require.
- If redeployed you still have your home school’s start/ending bell times.
- If redeployed after reaching your home school you still only stay until your home school’s hours. Advise the dispatcher and confirm with the new Principal upon arrival about the necessary arranged coverage.
- You’re only redeployed once per day, and travel time is during instructional time excluding your break periods.
- DOTs are entitled to reimbursement for mileage traveled between their “home” school and the redeployed location as per PROCEDURE PR.529.FIN. This form must be signed by the Principal or Vice Principal. It is the DOT’S responsibility to submit the completed form directly to finance (mileageclaim@ocdsb.ca) for reimbursement.
Practical Guidelines for DOTs (pdf download)
You are to be treated as a Daily OT, with just a few exceptions. The following will provide you with guidelines from the perspective of the Union.
If an Administrator’s direction contradicts these guidelines: you should, in a respectful, professional manner, attempt to discuss them with your Admin. After clarification and an explanatory approach has left the concern unresolved, please follow your Administrator’s direction and seek clarification from the OCEOTA Union office afterwards. We are your advocates.
Practical application of the DOT position
- DOTs report to the same school (i.e., their “home school”) each day and will be used to fill same day absences/unfilled assignments at the school or be redeployed to fill a absence/unfilled assignments
- If not required to fill same day absences you may be assigned to pay back prep time or lost teaching support time to teachers at the school.
- A DOT isn’t prearranged in advance to cover an absence. Only after a job is unfilled through EasyConnect is a DOT assigned each day.
- If the teacher the DOT is replacing indicates they will be absent the following day, the assignment is still entered in EasyConnect for filling rather than allowing the DOT to continue in the assignment. Same for multi-day absences.
Working conditions
- A DOT shall always receive a forty (40) minute uninterrupted lunch during a regular lunch period.
- Wherever possible, DOTs should be placed behind a single teacher absence and follow the absent teacher’s schedule (including the absent teacher’s duty and prep).
- DOTs are never EAs, ECEs, Office staff nor Custodians and should only ever be assigned teacher responsibilities and duties.
- Duty and prep are attached to the schedule of the teacher absent; a DOT is not on the duty schedule. If no teacher is absent, no duty needs coverage.
- A DOT shouldn’t just be given a duty (unless a clear emergency), or be added as extra help, or cover a duty as an additional responsibility outside of their absent teacher’s timetable.
- If there are no day plans for the DOT covering a class the expectation is the DOT use their professional judgement to teach appropriate grade level curriculum.
- An LTO is ten (10) consecutive days as a replacement for one teacher. This qualifies for retroactive LTO grid pay (Get your QECO + Experience Credit submitted ahead of time!).
Redeployment
- In the event there are no absences required at the home school, DOTs can be redeployed to neighbouring schools (even part way through the day). Dispatchers will attempt to redeploy within 10km.
- DOTs are expected to have access to a means of transportation (e.g. car/bus), but if complexities arise from redeployment that may affect arrival/departure time, the Dispatchers should be informed of this when redeploying you.
- If you have a vehicle you can claim mileage for redeployment from home school to new school. Unfortunately, if you use alternative forms of transportation costs are not ‘claimable’.
- DOTs are to be prioritized for absences in your home school before redeployment to other schools or other Emergency certified OTs or Emergency Classroom Supervisors are used for home school absences.
- Once redeployed you will remain at the school to which you were deployed.
Redeployed after arriving to your home school
- DOT hours of work are the same as their home school if redeployed. Dispatchers try to match the bell times of your home school when redeploying.
- When redeployed during the day, a DOT’s dismissal time remains at the end of the DOT’s home school day (a total instructional time of 300 mins). You will not be paid more than a 1.0 FTE day.
- When redeployed during the day your travel time is not during prep or lunch/break.
- Travel time, uninterrupted 40 min lunch, bell time differences etc., need to be communicated to the Dispatcher when redeployed, and the new school’s Administrator upon arrival. Sometimes a duty may need to be switched or coverage arranged at the start/end of the day.
Redeployed before start of the day
- When redeployed before the start of day, working the new school’s bell times is optional but encouraged. If this cannot be arranged by the DOT, your day may end at your regular home school bell time.
In for a ‘Series of Teachers’
- DOTs may be employed to replace a ‘series of teachers’ (2 or more). In such circumstances, the Occasional Teacher will be informed in advance of the nature of the assignment and grade levels.
- The ‘series of teachers’ timetable for a DOT still follows the timetables of the absent teachers being replaced. You should double-check the posted duty schedule to cover the duty included within, or adjacent to, the schedule of the absent teacher while you are in for them. This would be the rare time when two duties could happen during your day.
- Similarly, a ‘series of teachers’ day could be prep payback for multiple teachers who are not absent. A DOT is provided a schedule to follow when replacing multiple teacher absences. As there are no teachers absent there should be no duties and no preparation time assigned. However, if there is a duty, there should be a prep period within the schedule.
- During ‘Series of Teachers’ timetables, you still need the 40 min. uninterrupted lunch during a lunch period.
