HOW IS TEACHER* SENIORITY CALCULATED?

* Throughout this article, the term “teacher” also refers to “teaching assistants”… the rules are the same for both titles.

The Courts and the Commissioner of Education have defined seniority in terms of length of actual paid service within a tenure area to a school district. The first criterion for determining seniority is the actual full-time service rendered in the tenure area. Seniority is calculated from the day of the teacher’s first probationary appointment (pre-2004) or initial appointment (post-2004).  If such full-time service is equal, the teachers’ respective appointment dates are to be used for determining seniority. When two teachers have equal seniority and the same appointment date, the more senior teacher is the one whose appointment occurred first. If both teachers were appointed in the same resolution, absent any other “tiebreaker”, the school district uses the order in which the teachers’ names appear in the resolution. This order may or may not be alphabetical. The teacher’s name that appears first is deemed to have been appointed first and, thereby, has more seniority.

A school district may use any other reasonable method to establish seniority, including factors such as the dates on which an employment agreement was signed or returned, and also may consider the salaries of the employees. These factors are termed “seniority tiebreakers” and may be reasonable and non-discriminatory. Note that “seniority tiebreakers” are a mandatory subject of bargaining. However, the tiebreakers must be negotiated and agreed upon a priori, that is before positions are abolished and teachers excessed. The rules cannot be backordered to favor one teacher over another.

School districts are required to comply with the requirements of Commissioner’s Regulation Part 30.1. Part 30 is applicable to all probationary appointments made after August 1, 1975. This section mandates that seniority credit need not have been consecutive but, during each term for which seniority credit is sought, shall have constituted a substantial portion of the time of the professional educator. “Substantial portion of time” is defined as equaling 40 percent or more of the total time spent by the professional educator in the performance of his or her duties. Thus, the Commissioner has held that years of regular full-time substitute teaching service, which was interrupted by periods of part-time substitute service and ultimately led to a probationary appointment, should count for purposes of seniority by virtue of Commissioner’s Regulation part 30.1(f).

Days spent on unpaid leave of absence may not be included in determining seniority. A district is not obliged to grant credit for interrupted service when a teacher has not obtained a leave of absence. However, a district may choose to grant credit for interrupted service pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement with its teachers. A local union contract may have provisions expanding seniority and recall rights for teachers and teaching assistants.

…And How is Civil Service Employee Seniority Calculated?

Generally, non-instructional civil service employees’ seniority is calculated from the date of the original permanent appointment in the classified civil service in positions the employer has chosen to eliminate. In some civil service jurisdictions, the employee may be credited with seniority for services rendered in other titles held prior to the civil service position that the employer has chosen to eliminate. Employees who are blind, veterans, or spouses of disabled veterans, are given preference in layoff situations. Further, many NYSUT School Related Professionals contracts have language granting seniority and recall rights. Check your contract! Generally, the local civil service jurisdiction works cooperatively with school districts and also overseas all actions by the school district pertaining to abolition of civil service positions, layoffs and recall rights.  

Source – The Elmsford Edge