Part 3 – Caretakers

3.1 Application/Definition

3.1.1 Except as otherwise provided Part 3 shall apply to caretakers as defined below only.

3.1.2 A Grade One caretaker (and/or a custodian) is a worker who is substantially employed to have the responsibility for the safety and good order of the grounds and buildings and to lock and unlock doors; and who may be required to perform and supervise duties of cleaning, attending to fires, heating plant and swimming pools, and to do minor maintenance but not work required to be undertaken by a registered or qualified tradesperson.

3.1.3 A Grade Two caretaker is a worker appointed by the employer who may be employed to have the responsibility for the safety and good order of the grounds and buildings and to lock and unlock doors; and who may be required to perform and supervise duties of cleaning, attending to fires, heating plant, and swimming pools.  In addition to the duties above, the Grade 2 caretaker shall undertake (and shall be available and have the necessary skills to undertake) school maintenance work (in addition to minor maintenance work) which he/she is legally able to undertake and which would normally be undertaken by a registered or qualified tradesperson.

3.1.4 An assistant caretaker is a worker employed to assist the caretaker in the carrying out of his/her duties.

3.1.5 A part-time caretaker is a worker who is substantially employed in the duties outlined in 3.1.2 above but where the total amount of the employer's assessment (subclause 6.5.6) is less than 35 hours per week.

3.1.6 A caretaker in a primary school shall be responsible for the care of the grounds.

3.1.7 In all schools where the number of hours determined by the employer for the proper care and cleaning of the school (see 6.5.6) is 35 hours per week or more, for the purposes of this agreement a full-time caretaker shall be employed.

3.1.8 A caretaker’s duties do not include locking up after evening classes, except where this is specifically required in the caretaker’s terms of employment.

3.2 Wages

Minimum weekly or hourly rates for caretakers:

3.3 Meal Allowance

Where a caretaker completes nine and a half hours or more on any one day, the employer shall provide him/her with a suitable meal or, in lieu thereof, pay an allowance at the rate specified below.

Meal allowance - $7.25

3.4 Boiler Allowance

A caretaker required to operate coal-fired or oil-fired boilers shall, while so employed, be paid an allowance at the rate specified below, during the period of the year when the boilers are in use.

This payment is not in lieu of the Unusually Dirty Work Allowance as provided for in clause 4.6.  A worker may qualify for both the boiler operating allowance and the dirty work payment on the same day if he/she performs unusually dirty work.

Boiler allowance - $3.09 per day or part thereof

3.5 Swimming Pool Allowance

3.5.1 A caretaker required to undertake the operation, chlorination and maintenance of filtered or draw and fill school swimming pools for the purposes of providing and maintaining an adequate standard of hygiene, during periods when the pool is open for official school use shall be paid the allowance specified below for each day he/she undertakes these duties during the period of the year when the school is open.

3.5.2 Only a caretaker who is solely responsible for the complete operation and maintenance of school swimming pools, as detailed in subclause 3.5.1 qualifies for the allowance.

3.5.3 The allowance, in addition to wages for such time worked, will also be paid where the employer authorises the opening of the pool for public use during weekends, school vacations, or other periods when the school is not officially open and where the caretaker has agreed to undertake these additional duties.

Swimming pool allowance - $4.50 per day

NOTE: Appendix A sets out the procedures to be followed in handling swimming pool chemicals.

3.6 Provision of Tools

A caretaker required to do maintenance shall be supplied with the tools necessary to undertake the work at the employer’s expense.  Such tools are to remain the property of the employer.

3.7 Callback

3.7.1 When a caretaker is called back to work after having completed work and left the place of employment he/she shall be paid a minimum of two hours.

3.7.2 Paragraph 3.7.1 above shall not apply to a residential caretaker unless the callback results from an emergency and is of at least 30 minutes duration.

3.8 Hours of Work

3.8.1 Forty hours shall constitute a weeks work to be worked on 5 consecutive days of the week, Monday to Saturday inclusive.  Not more than 8 hours shall be worked in any one day without payment of overtime.  Provided that a caretaker may be given one half day off during the week and work on Saturday morning as part of the ordinary 40 hour week.

3.8.2 As far as possible the hours of work shall be continuous from the time of starting work save for the intervals for meals which shall not be more than one hour or less than 30 minutes.  No caretaker shall be required to work for more than four and a half hours without a meal.

3.8.3 Where a caretaker is residing on the premises where he/she is employed, the time during which he/she is engaged on actual work coming within the scope of his/her duties as caretaker in connection with the building shall be considered as working time.

3.8.4 A caretaker shall be granted a rest period of ten minutes in each period of four hours' work.

3.9 Overtime

3.9.1 All time worked in excess or outside of the hours of work prescribed in clause 3.8 shall be worked solely at the employer's discretion and providing it is specifically required, shall be considered overtime and shall be paid for at the following rate: Time and one half.

3.9.2 When a caretaker has been requested on the previous day to work overtime and such overtime is cancelled on the day on which it is to be worked, the caretaker shall be paid one hour's pay at the overtime rate.

3.10 Retiring Leave

3.10.1 Except as provided by 3.10.2 below, a full-time caretaker on completion of 40 years’ service, or on completion of 10 or more years service at age 60 or over, is entitled to qualify for retiring leave.  The entitlement in working days ranges from 22 days after 10 years' eligible service to 131 days after 40 years' service.  Service in excess of 40 years does not attract a greater retiring leave entitlement.

3.10.2 A permanent part-time caretaker who meets either criteria set out in 3.10.1 above and who was previously full-time but had his/her hours reduced as a result of clause 6.1 of this agreement, shall also remain entitled to qualify for the Retiring Leave based upon his/her average weekly hours set over the five years immediately preceding the date of retirement (eg, a full-time caretaker whose set hours are reduced to 30 exactly two years six months before retirement and who would have been entitled to 100 days, is entitled to 87.5 days ie, the midpoint between 0.75 and 1).

3.10.3 Retiring leave entitlement is set out in working days below:

3.11 Accommodation

3.11.1 Accommodation may be provided as a condition of employment.  The level of rental paid for accommodation for a caretaker is set to compensate the caretaker for minor disturbances, inconveniences, and as recognition of the role they play in the security of the school.

3.11.2 Where an employer requires a caretaker to occupy accommodation provided by the employer as a condition of employment, the rent to be deducted shall be negotiated between the employer and the union representative.  If an agreement is not reached the matter shall be determined in accordance with Part 7.

3.11.3 Subject to the provisions of 3.11.2 above, the deductions of rent by the employer from the wages of a caretaker shall be subject to his/her agreement in writing.