Time, Money, and the Control of One's Own Work Life: An Examination of the Deferred Salary Leave Plan

Abstract

This article describes a contractually negotiated income leisure substitution provision commonly used in Canada but relatively unknown to school districts in the United States. Known as the deferred salary leave plan, this personnel policy enables teachers to assume greater control over their own work lives by allowing them to set aside monies to underwrite their own leaves of absence. After first examining this policy innovation, the authors argue that opportunities for income/leisure substitutions such as the deferred salary leave plan may help teachers alleviate job stress, offset the increased work demands of reform initiatives such as site-based management and shared decision making, and cause educational policy makers to reconsider common but rather narrow conceptions of staff development.