February 3, 2022
To: School Administrators and Retired Teacher Substitutes
From: Ian Crewe, Assistant Executive Director
Re: Employment of Retirees as Substitute Teachers
You may have heard about the changes made recently to the Teachers’ Pension Plan Text, which are in effect for the remainder of the current school year. The TPP Joint Sponsor Body approved these changes in order to help address the shortage of substitute teachers in some parts of the province, which has been exacerbated by increased teacher absences during the pandemic due to illness and/or isolation requirements. When it comes to hiring retired teachers as substitutes, the following points should be noted by both administrators and retired teachers:
1) For the remainder of the 2021-22 school year, there is no limit on the total number of days that a retiree can work on a substitute basis. This provision applies until June 24, 2022, after which the 90-day limit for retired teachers working as substitutes will be back in effect 2022-23.
2) The “20 day rule” still applies with respect to continuous days of substituting. There is no change to the application of Clause 49.08 of the Provincial Collective Agreement (Clause 46.08 of the Labrador West Collective Agreement). When any substitute teacher, retired or otherwise, works as a substitute for 20 continuous days or more, they are considered (retroactively) to be replacement teachers for the purpose of benefits – including making contributions for pensionable service in the TPP. Retired teachers cannot draw a pension from the TPP and contribute to the TPP at the same time. Therefore, retiree substitutes should keep close track of their time worked. When being called in steadily to substitute, they should remember to take a break from substituting, even for part of day, in order to avoid working for 20 continuous days (100 continuous hours, including paid holidays) or more without a break to avoid triggering this provision.
3) Separate and distinct from working as a substitute, retired teachers may still be approved to work in “hard to fill” term contracts under certain circumstances. The “20 day rule” would not apply in a situation where a school district has requested and received approval to hire a retired teacher in receipt of a pension from the TPP on a term contract basis for a position they have been unable to fill through usual processes.
If an administrator or retired substitute teacher has questions related to the above, they should contact an administrative officer at the NLTA by emailing mail@nlta.nl.ca.
