Substitution pay

Bargaining unit and schedule A employees who are temporarily reassigned to perform the principal duties of a higher-paying position receive substitution pay.

This includes performing duties of an excluded position.

Excluded management employees are not eligible for substitution pay. They are eligible for temporary appointments.

Substitution pay is intended for periods of less than 21 days. Temporary appointments are usually set up for longer periods.

On this page

• Initiate substitution pay for your employee
• Sample substitution pay forms
• Calculate substitution pay

Initiate substitution pay for your employee

Answer the following questions:

• Is the employee substituting into an existing, classified position?
• Is the substitution within the same Bargaining Unit?
• Is the employee qualified to perform all the principle duties of the position?
• Will the employee perform all the principal duties of the position?
• Will the period of substitution be equal to or less than seven months?   

If you answered no to any of the questions above, contact AskMyHR for assistance. Submit a service request using the categories Myself (or) My Team or Organization > Pay > Salaries & Other Wages.

If you answered yes to all of the questions, answer the following:

• Is the employee currently receiving substitution pay or on a temporary assignment?
• Is the employee currently receiving salary protection?
• Is the employee substituting into a position that is more than one classification level higher than their base position?
• Is the employee in (or substituting into) a BCGEU position with a temporary market adjustment?
• Is the employee in one of the following growth classifications?
  • Social program officer
  • Correctional officer
  • Commercial transport inspector
  • Paralegal
  • Community program officer (EAW)
• Is substituting periodically in the position normally required and stated in the employee's job description?  

If you answered yes to any of the above, or are unsure of the answer, contact AskMyHR for assistance. Submit a service request using the category Myself (or) My Team or Organization > Pay > Salaries & Other Wages.

Sample substitution pay forms

• For an employee currently receiving temporary market adjustment and substituting into a management position (PDF, 341KB)
• For an employee currently receiving temporary market adjustment and substituting into a non-temporary market adjustment position (PDF, 341KB)
• For an employee currently receiving temporary market adjustment substituting into another temporary market adjustment position (PDF, 337KB)

Calculate substitution pay

Employees are paid at the salary range step of the higher-paying position that is closest to eight percent above their regular base salary. If the higher-paying position has only one salary step, that step is the rate of substitution pay.

Regular base pay includes any salary protection the employee receives. If the employee is a BCGEU member or Schedule A employee, it also includes any temporary market adjustment.