In 2017, the UFT filed a union-initiated grievance to ensure that all elementary schools were following fair and consistent protocols for departmentalization. To settle the arbitration case, the Department of Education agreed to the following terms...

Under the negotiated contract language which applies to all UFT-represented employees, the Department of Education is required to maintain an environment that is “free of harassment, intimidation, retaliation and discrimination.” If you are...

Teachers were once required to punch in and out with a time clock, but the UFT was able to eliminate of that hold-over of factory-model teaching in the 1990s. Today, the principal must consult with the UFT chapter committee and establish alternate...

An absence due to a death in your immediate family is classified as a "non-attendance day," -- you receive full pay and it is not deducted from your Cumulative Absence Record (CAR). If your parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, spouse or...

This is the formal name for your bank of “sick days.” You are credited with one CAR day on the 16 th of each month of the school year, for a total of 10 days for the full school year. If you are regularly appointed, you can accumulate up to 200 CAR...

There is no specific number of absences that is automatically considered excessive. According to an arbitration award, facts and circumstances that must be considered include, but are not limited to, the employee’s attendance and work history...

You are entitled to full pay for time spent on jury duty. Your jury duty time during the school year is classified as non-attendance days. Jury duty that causes you to miss per session time does not count as non-attendance; if you miss per session...

Attendance at education conferences, meetings or conventions are treated as an excused absence with full pay and are not deducted from your CAR. Prior approval of the principal and superintendent are required.

If you are going to be absent due to religious observance, you should give your principal sufficient notice so that he or she can hire a substitute teacher for you. Your school secretary has the appropriate form for you to fill out. In many instances...

You may receive an excused absence to attend a graduation ceremony of a close family member. See the guidelines below: Pedagogues and paraprofessionals: One day with principal’s or supervisor’s permission to attend their graduation or that of a...