Long term assignments and payroll errors
You work day in and day out, striving through those tough classes (or those well behaved classes, if you’re lucky enough), in lieu of meeting the demands of not only the Administration, but also the teacher you are subbing for. At the end of it all, you would like to know that you have been rightly compensated for all those arduous days working as a long term substitute. You finally receive your check and/or deposit and realize that you have been shorted somehow. “Hmm,” you say to yourself, “I’ve worked more than 20 straight days in this assignment alone, and I haven’t received my extra 10 dollars per day for that duration.”
The CWA Substitute Union for the San Bernardino School District has dealt with numerous such cases. While we have been more than obliged to help correct such errors, we have also realized that these errors are programming issues that the district can easily rectify.
The technical error manifests when the long term assignment is held during any holiday, in which the system recognizes that holiday as a break into your long term assignment, and not a contingent holiday. If substitutes do not know this already, a long term assignment is considered one in which you work continuously for 20 or more days, with absolutely no breaks. So in other words, if your assignment is for three months, as has often been the case with many subs, and you take a day off during any time in your long term assignment, you start again at day one when you return, instead of continuing to day 17, leading up to your long term pay compensation. The payroll programming at the District cannot distinguish between a personal day taken off by the sub, and a holiday in which the entire school has been closed in commemoration of that holiday, and so herein lies our problem.
While it may be frustrating for some substitutes to deal with such baffling errors, the best thing to do is to call Shay at the San Bernardino School District at (909) 381-1111. Shay is well aware of the technical anomalies that occur during such holidays, and will be more than happy to address those payroll issues and have that long term pay sent to you. In no time, your befuddlement as to why you have not received your long term pay will transform into relief when you realize you will be getting it shortly!
Please take note, however, that there are strict regulations that the San Bernardino School District must enforce, by law, to all long term substitutes. Only credentialed substitutes are permitted to take on long term assignments in core classes, such as Math, English, and Science. Long term assignments in elective courses such as Leadership, will not receive long term pay. There are exceptions, and you can call the district at (909) 381-1100 for more information.
By: Marian E. Iskandar
