- Pittsburgh Public Schools
- Pay and Payroll
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SUBSTITUTE SERVICES
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Pay and Payroll
Please use the links below to navigate to various topics regarding substitute employee pay:
Paystubs
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Paystubs
Employees can access their paystubs online in the Employee Self Service Portal. Employees can always access the Employee Self Service Portal from the Pittsburgh Public Schools Staff Page.
You will need the following:
Employee ID (EMPLID): 4 or 5-digit number (no leading zeroes)
If you have never logged in before, your password should be the last 4 digits of your SSN.*If you do not know your employee ID, please submit a support request via Let's Talk. You may also email support@pghschools.org or call 412-529-HELP (4357) during business hours: Monday-Friday 6:30-4:30.
Reading Your Paystubs
Your paystub will look different based on whether you are a Day-to-Day Substitute or a Full-Time Substitute. Review the sample paystub documents for your role.
Payroll Schedule
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Payroll Schedule
To determine pay dates for all substitute roles, please review the 2022-2023 Non-Administrator Semi-Monthly Pay Schedule.
The “PAY DATE” column reflects the dates on which all substitute employees can expect to receive a paycheck.
The “TIMEKEEPER ENTRY & HR PROCESSING PERIOD” column is the period of time that the timekeepers/secretaries and the HR department use to submit absences, attendance, and other payments to be included in the pay date. This is also the date range for which Day-to-Day Substitutes will be paid on each pay date.
Day-to-Day Substitute Payroll Schedule
As a Day-to-Day Substitute, you will be paid for the workdays within the Timekeeper Entry & HR Processing Period.
Below is a sample of a Non-Administrator Semi-Monthly Pay Schedule. For example, on the October 14 Pay Date, a Day-to-Day Substitute will be paid for the days that they worked in the date range to the left of the pay date: September 23-October 6.
Full-Time Substitute Payroll Schedule
As a Full-Time Substitute, your pay dates are listed on the Non-Administrator Semi-Monthly Pay Schedule. You are paid a salary for the 1st of the month through the 15th, paid on the workday closest to the 15th, and for the 16th to the last day of the month, paid on the workday closest to the last day of the month.
For example, on the September 15 Pay Date, you will be paid a salary for September 1-September 15. Since October 15 is a Saturday, you get paid on Friday, October 14 instead.
Promotion to Full-Time Substitute Payroll Schedule
Once you complete 40 days in an assignment, your 41st day is considered your “promotion date.” Your promotion date is the date that your pay changes from your Day-to-Day Substitute rate to your Full-Time Substitute salary.
When you transition from your Day-to-Day rate to your Full-Time salary, you will want to review the Day-to-Day Substitute Payroll Schedule and the Full-Time Substitute Payroll Schedule carefully to understand which days are included in each pay date.
If you are a Day-to-Day Substitute and have reached Full-Time Substitute status, your first paycheck as a Full-Time Substitute will reflect your Full-Time Substitute salary and your retroactive payment for the days that you were paid as a Day-to-Day Substitute.
For example, if your promotion date (your 41st day) falls on October 9, your Full-Time Substitute salary will first appear in your October 31st paycheck. Your paycheck could include the following:
- Your salary as a Full-Time Substitute for October 16-October 31
- Your retroactive payment for the difference between your day-to-day rate and your full-time salary for the days between your professional experience date (the first day in the assignment) and October 15. Please note that your retroactive payment may take 1-2 pay dates to process.
See the section, “Full-Time Substitute Pay & Eligibility” above for more information about Full-Time Substitute eligibility.
See the section, “Pay Corrections” above for where to direct questions about your pay.
Demotion to Day-to-Day Substitute Payroll Schedule
If you are a Full-Time Substitute being demoted to a Day-to-Day Substitute at the end of an assignment, your “demotion date” is the day after your last day in the assignment.
When you transition from your Full-Time salary to your Day-to-Day rate, you will want to review the Day-to-Day Substitute Payroll Schedule and the Full-Time Substitute Payroll Schedule carefully to understand which days are included in each pay date.
Your full-time substitute salary will be prorated for the days you worked as a Full-Time Substitute in the payroll period (the 1st through the 15th, or the 16th through the end of the month).
Then, you will receive your Day-to-Day Substitute rate for the days you worked as a Day-to-Day Substitute in the Timekeeper Entry and HR Processing period.
For example, if your last day as a Full-Time Substitute is October 8, your demotion date is October 9.
Your October 14 paycheck will be your last paycheck that uses the Full-Time Substitute Payroll Schedule guidelines. Your October 14 paycheck will include the days that you worked as a Full-Time Substitute between October 1 and October 15. Because your demotion date is October 9, you will receive your Full-Time Substitute salary prorated for October 1-October 8.
Then, your October 31 paycheck will be your first paycheck that uses the Day-to-Day Substitute Payroll Schedule guidelines. Your October 31 paycheck will include the days that you worked as a Day-to-Day Substitute indicated in the “TIMEKEEPER ENTRY AND HR PROCESSING PERIOD” column. On October 31, you will be paid your Day-to-Day rate for any days you worked as a Day-to-Day Substitute between October 7 and October 21.
Even as a Full-Time Substitute, it is critical that you work with your timekeeper to ensure that your Frontline assignments are up to date. To identify your demotion date and change your pay, the HR department will search for Frontline assignments that are expected to end within each pay period. The demotion must be identified and coded before the last day of the HR processing period. Last-minute changes or inaccurate reporting could result in overpayment.
If you are overpaid, there are two options that you are afforded to repay the funds;
- Pay the amount that was overpaid back or
- Have the overpayment amount taken out of your future paychecks.
See the section, “Full-Time Substitute Pay & Eligibility” above for more information about Full-Time Substitute eligibility.
See the section, “Pay Corrections” above for where to direct questions about your pay.
Pay Corrections
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Pay Corrections
As a Substitute employee, it is imperative that you keep a log of your days worked and the locations you have worked. It is YOUR responsibility to regularly check your paystub and Frontline to ensure that your days worked are properly recorded to guarantee correct payments.
Review your paystub alongside the Payroll Schedule section above. If you believe that you have been paid incorrectly, please follow these steps in order:
- Check the Frontline Absence Management system to see if your days worked were recorded correctly. If they were not recorded correctly, contact the school secretary/timekeeper to request that your days worked are corrected in the system before the next payroll cutoff. The secretary/timekeeper must notify payroll that they have changed your days worked.
- If the school secretary/timekeeper confirms that your days worked were recorded correctly, contact the Help Desk via Let's Talk. You may also email support@pghschools.org or call 412-529-HELP (4357) during business hours: Monday-Friday 6:30-4:30. The support team will direct your questions to the payroll department.
- If your pay issue has not been solved after speaking to the school secretary/timekeeper and the payroll department, please contact Substitute Services at subservices@pghschools.org.
W-2
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W-2
You can access your W2 by visiting the Pittsburgh Public Schools Staff Webpage and clicking on the “W2 Copy” button under the “Employee Resources (HR, Payroll)” section.
This service is available to employees who signed up to receive W2's online from the third-party organization that prints W2's each year.
Day-to-Day Substitute Pay Rates & Eligibility
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Day-to-Day Substitute Pay Rates & Eligibility
Please review the chart below regarding Day-to-Day Substitute pay rates.
*subject to the guidelines of Article 91 of the PFT Collective Bargaining Agreement regarding Full-Time Substitute eligibility
Day-to-Day Substitute Professionals Pay Rate (Teachers, Counselors, Social Workers)
As a new Day-to-Day Substitute Professional, you will be paid at Step 1, $120/day, when working in the absence of a school-based professional or paraprofessional in any school. After you have worked at least (40) days for each of two consecutive semesters, your pay rate will change to Step 2, $136/day, at the start of the third semester.
You will see the pay rate change in your first paystub of the third semester. Sometimes, this rate is not reflected until the third pay period of the 3rd semester due to payroll cut off dates. However, if your new pay rate is reflected later than the rate increase date, you will receive retroactive payment.
After reaching Step 2, $136/day, you will continue to receive the Step 2 rate as long as you are an active substitute.
If you work in an Extended Day School, you will receive an additional 2.5% of your Step 1 or Step 2 pay rate. Extended Day Schools are listed below:
- Arlington PreK-8
- Colfax K-8
- King PreK-8
- Science and Technology Academy
- Weil PreK-5
Day-to-Day Substitute Paraprofessional
As a Day-to-Day Substitute Paraprofessional, you will be paid $8/hour working in the absence of a paraprofessional in any school.
If you work in a special education classroom, you will be paid $9/hour working in the absence of a paraprofessional in any school.
Day-to-Day Substitute Nurses and Certified Licensed Practical Nurse Instructors Pay
As a Day-to-Day Substitute Nurse or Certified Licensed Practical Nurse, you will be paid $137.50/day when working in the absence of a school-based nurse.
Half Days and Cancelled Assignments
If the school cancels the assignment before you report to the school, you will not be paid for that assignment.
If you report to a school for an assignment and the school informs you that the assignment is no longer available, you will receive half-day payment for that assignment.
If you work a half-day or if you substitute for a part-time employee, you will receive a half-day payment for that assignment.
Full-Time Substitute Pay Rate, Eligibility, and Promotion Process
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Full-Time Substitute Pay Rate, Eligibility, and Promotion Process
Please review the chart below regarding Full-Time Substitute pay rates. A more in-depth description of Full-Time Substitute Pay can be found in the PFT Collective Bargaining Agreement, Article 91.
Full-Time Substitute Eligibility and Requirements
To become a Full-Time substitute, you must instruct and provide support to students for forty (40) consecutive days or longer in the same assignment. The assignment must be for the vacancy or absence of a school-based professional (Teacher, Counselor, or Social Worker).
Your days worked for that assignment must be recorded properly in the Frontline Absence Management system in order to reach Full-Time Substitute status. Frontline must display that you have been working in the same absence or vacancy for the same school-based professional for 40 consecutive days. If your time is not recorded correctly in the Frontline system, Human Resources is unable to determine if you have worked 40 consecutive days, which jeopardizes your ability to acquire Full-Time Substitute status.
You may be assigned to “transition time” before or after the professional employee’s absences to ensure a smooth transition for the classroom or position. Only one week before and/or after the employee’s absence will be permitted to be included in your Full-Time Substitute assignment.
Clerical and District Professional Development Days will count towards your forty (40) days since you are required to work on those days. School-Only Vacation and All PPS Holidays will not count towards your forty (40) consecutive days.
You can miss up to one (1) day due to an emergency and still acquire Full-Time Substitute status. An email notification must be sent to subservices@pghschools.org by the school principal or secretary notifying Human Resources of your approved one-day absence. If you miss more than one (1) day, your forty (40) consecutive days count will be reset.
Please review Article 91, Full-Time Substitute Teachers, in the PFT Collective Bargaining Agreement for more information regarding Full-Time Substitute eligibility.
Notification of Full-Time Substitute Status
When you reach Full-Time Substitute status, Human Resources will send you, your secretary/timekeeper, and your principal, a notification informing you of the promotion. The dates in the promotion email will be based on your time entered in Frontline. If you believe that the promotion date is incorrect, respond to the email from subservices@pghschools.org immediately.
Emergency Certification Requirement
Once you reach Full-Time status you will be required to obtain an Emergency Certification if you are not properly certified for the assignment. This is a requirement of the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Human Resources will notify you if you are required to acquire an Emergency Certification at the cost of $100. Please note that you are responsible for covering this cost.
Full-Time Substitute Pay
Once you reach a Full-Time Substitute status, you will be “promoted” to a Full-Time Substitute, and you will begin receiving a salary. You will also receive retroactive payment for the difference between your Day-to-Day Substitute rate and your Full-Time Substitute salary for your first 40 days. You will receive this retroactive payment within two paychecks from your promotion date. Please review the “Payroll Schedule” section for more details.
Full-Time Substitute Step Placement
All Full-Time Substitutes begin on Step 1. In order to move to Step 2, you must work as a Full-Time Substitute for ten (10) non-consecutive months. Once you have reached Step 2, in order to move to step 3, you must work as a Full-Time Substitute for an additional ten (10) non-consecutive months.
Please see the PFT Collective Bargaining Agreement, Article 91 for more information regarding Full-Time Substitute step placement.
Extending your Full-Time Substitute Status
If your current Full-Time Substitute assignment is ending, and you have been offered a new assignment that will lead to becoming a Full-Time Substitute, you may be able to maintain your Full-Time Substitute status. The new assignment must begin within a week of the end of your previous full-time assignment. Your principal must send an email notification to subservices@pghschools.org as soon as possible to notify Human Resources that you are going to pick up a new assignment that will lead you to becoming a Full-Time Substitute. Extensions of Full-Time Substitute assignments are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Returning to Day-to-Day Substitute Status
When your Full-Time Substitute assignment ends, Human Resources will send you, your secretary/time keeper, and your principal, a notification informing you of the demotion. Your demotion date is the day after your last day in the assignment. The demotion date in your email notification will reflect how your assignment has been entered in Frontline. If you believe that your demotion date is incorrect, please reply to subservices@pghschools.org immediately.
Your pay will be reverted to the Day-to-Day Substitute rate on your demotion date, the day after your last day in the assignment. If your Full-Time Substitute assignment ends and you are reverted to the Day-to-Day Substitute rate after a payroll cutoff date, it is possible that you will be overpaid. Please review the “Payroll Schedule” section for more details.