Automatic Progression for Teacher Aides and Administration Staff
Employees covered by the Support Staff in Schools’ Collective Agreementopen_in_new (SSSCA), the Specialist Residential Schools’ Collective Agreementopen_in_new (SRSCA) and non-teaching coordinators and coordinator assistants employed under the Community Education Collective Agreementopen_in_new (CECA) are positioned in a grade on their applicable pay scale.
Each pay grade has several steps within that grade. Employees are entitled to automatically progress through these steps each year until they reach the top step of their grade.
Additionally:
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A teacher aide who starts at Grade B-C 1 automatically progresses each year until they reach Grade B-C 10.
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An administration support staff, level one non-teaching coordinator or coordinator assistant employee who starts at Grade 2, Step 1 (or Grade 3, Step 5) automatically progresses each year until they reach Grade 4, Step 13.
This is because the roles covered by Grades B and C of the teacher aide work matrix and Grades 2, 3, and 4 of the administration support staff matrix have overlapping skills, experience, and responsibilities.
The permeable grades recognise the natural growth of these employees and ensures their pay is increased accordingly.
The automatic nature of progression ensures employees are correctly progressed and remunerated on an annual basis.
Several pay equity claims found that this was often not occurring under the previous progression mechanism.
Progression automatically takes place on the employee’s “anniversary” date, which is usually the day they first started employment with your school.
You can see which of your employees are due to be progressed within the next 90 days through the EdPay Auto Increments screen. Information on accessing the screen can be found on the page titled “Deferring automatic salary increments for support staffopen_in_new.”
Progression can be deferred only in the two situations described below.
Work deemed to stay in current grade (Teacher Aides, Administration Support Staff, Level One Non-Teaching Coordinator and Coordinator Assistants)
When:
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A teacher aide reaches Grade B-C 5, but it is determined that the tasks, duties and responsibilities of the role remain solely within Grade B of the Teacher Aide Work Matrix (see clause 3A.3 of the SSSCA), or
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An administration support staff employee, level one non-teaching coordinator or coordinator assistant reaches Grade 2, Step 4, but it is determined that the tasks, duties and responsibilities of the role remain solely within Grade 2 of the Administration Support Staff Work Matrix (see clause 3B.2 of the SSSCA, clause 4A.2 of the SRSCA, or clause 3.6 of CECA), or
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An administration support staff, level one non-teaching coordinator or coordinator assistant employee reaches Grade 3, Step 8, but it is determined that the tasks, duties and responsibilities of the role remain solely within Grade 3 of the Administration Support Staff Work Matrix (see clause 3B.2 of the SSSCA, clause 4A.2 of the SRSCA, or clause 3.6 of CECA)
The school can choose to defer progression and hold the employee at their current grade and step, which prevents automatic progression. This is to be done in accordance with the applicable collective agreement clause:
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Clause 3A.7.2 of the SSSCA (Teacher Aides), or
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Clause 3B.6.4(b) of the SSSCA (Administration Support Staff), or
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Clause 4A.5.4(b) of the SRSCA (Administration Support Staff), or
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Clause 3.8.6 of the CECA (Level One Non-Teaching Coordinators and Coordinators).
Tasks, duties, and responsibilities remaining solely in Grade B/Grade 2/Grade 3 means the employee is not, and is not expected to be, performing any of the tasks/duties of the higher grade that they otherwise would have progressed to.
They also will not be holding any of the responsibilities of that higher grade. The applicable work matrix defines the tasks, duties and responsibilities of each grade.
Notice of deferral must be provided in writing at least two months prior to the employee’s anniversary date. In this written notice, you need to provide reasons as to why the role remains where it is. These reasons should reference the employee’s job description and the applicable work matrix.
Use our letter template to provide notice of Progression – Holding at Gradeopen_in_new.
Please note that:
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This is an annual process, and the letter (and reasons, updated if necessary) needs to be provided each year, at least two months before the employee’s anniversary, in order to successfully defer or hold progression.
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It is too late to hold progression if an employee has already automatically progressed to Grade B-C 6, Grade 3; Step 5 or Grade 4; Step 9, respectively (or higher as the case may be).
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An employee is entitled to seek a review of the decision. The most common reason is that they believe they are doing work in Grade C, Grade 3, or Grade 4, respectively, and that they should progress as normal. Please contact the Advisory and Support Centre to discuss any challenge further.
Failing to meet expectations of performance
Progression can be deferred for an employee when the employer considers that the employee is not meeting the expected standards of performance in their role as set out in their job description. This is done in writing at least two months before the progression occurs.
An employee cannot learn that the school has concerns with their performance by having their progression held. Any decision to hold progression must be tied to an employment process. In most cases, this will come from a regular, robust appraisal or a formal performance improvement process.
If you are considering deferring or holding an employee’s progression because they are failing to meet the expectations of performance, please contact the Advisory and Support Centre to discuss the situation further.
Templates, resources, and references
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