If you travel to work by public transportation, you can save money by taking part in the City of New York Commuter Benefits Program, which covers New York City and the tri-state area.

This city benefit enables UFT members to pay for allowable commuting costs with pretax dollars. Participating in the program can mean a savings of up to 30 percent on monthly commuting expenses, depending on the cost of your transit travel and your individual tax situation. Calculate your estimated savings » As of Jan. 1, 2024, the pre-tax limit increased to $315, up from $300. 

What’s covered

The program, administered by Edenred, covers virtually any transit system in the tri-state area. Here’s a partial list:

• New York City Transit, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, New Jersey Transit, PATH and NY Waterway
• Paratransit and the MTA’s Access-A-Ride program
• Parking at or near public transit to commute to work, with the Park-n-Ride program

How to sign up

If you want to enroll or change, suspend or discontinue payroll deductions in the Commuter Benefits Program, you can do so online at the city Department of Education’s payroll portal. Remember to keep your current address updated with Edenred; changing your address with the NYC DOE will not automatically update your address with Edenred. For more information, see Updating Your Commuter Benefits Account.

You can also complete a paper application by downloading an Edenred website for more information.

Transit Pass Plan: This plan allows you to arrange for home delivery of your transit provider passes and tickets through Edenred. See the extensive catalog of transit providers in the tri-state area. As of Jan. 1, 2024, the pre-tax limit increased to $315, up from $300. 

Annual Transit Card: Formerly called WageWorks Premium TransitChek MetroCard (PMC), this is an annual, unlimited ride MetroCard that is accepted wherever the MTA 30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard is accepted. The Annual Transit Card allows you to take unlimited rides on local buses and the subway throughout the five boroughs. The Annual Transit Card is paid through deductions equal to the cost of the MTA 30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard.

Park-n-Ride: This plan allows you to use pre- and post-tax payroll deductions to pay for parking at or near a public transportation stop or station that you use to get to work. Only transit-related parking is eligible.You must be enrolled in one of the other Commuter Benefits Plans in order to participate in the Park-n-Ride program. You will incur a post-tax administrative fee of $2.05 for the Park-n-Ride plan. Cash reimbursement is a parking option (but not a transit option).

Access-A-Ride/Paratransit: This plan allows employees to receive paratransit service from a transit provider in the tri-state area, including the MTA New York City Transit’s Access-A-Ride. The city will pay the monthly $2.05 administrative fee. Get more information »

Contact information

If you have questions about any of the plans, visit the Edenred website or call 833-584-8109 from Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

You can fill out a new COPE contribution form and return your completed form to your chapter leader:

• COPE enrollment form for in-service members
• COPE enrollment form for retirees

You can also call the UFT at 212-331-6311  (retirees, call 212-331-6314) and request a change in your COPE contribution over the phone. 

Both parents are each entitled to six weeks of Paid Parental Leave if they both work for the DOE in UFT-represented titles. As of the 2023 contract, this couple may take a total of 12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave, each using their six weeks of parental leave time. 

The combined 12 weeks of parental leave can run concurrently (six weeks each, at the same time) or consecutively (six weeks for one parent, followed by six weeks for the other parent). However, one parent may not donate their leave time to the other to increase one's Paid Parental Leave period beyond six weeks. 

Any time a person is off payroll, their summer pay is reduced accordingly. In other words, if you are off payroll for 10% of the school year, your summer pay would be reduced roughly 10%. If you are on Parental Leave, this loss is compensated for in the check you receive from the Welfare Fund. Any time that you are out on a Childcare Leave, or any time off payroll outside of the 6 weeks of Parental Leave, will result in a vacation pay reduction.

You can apply for a sabbatical by logging onto the DOE's Self Online Leave Application System (SOLAS).  SOLAS is available at https://apps.schools.nyc/solas.  

If you are a teacher with 7 years of service, you could be eligible for a six-month sabbatical.  People on six-month sabbaticals are paid 60% of their regular pay.  People who are on year-long sabbaticals (which require 14 years of service) receive 70% of their regular pay.

See the UFT's main page on sabbaticals for more information. 

You can stop working a week before your due date without any additional medical documentation. If you want to go on leave before that, you would need a note from your doctor that includes a diagnosis and prognosis.

When you return from a leave of absence, in most cases you return to your school or worksite.  In some cases, you may be excessed while on a leave, if you were the least senior person in your license area and your school experienced a drop in enrollment.  Some titles, like Guidance Counselors, Speech Teachers and Occupational and Physical Therapists have time limits for a right of return to your school or worksite.

Yes.  People who do not return from a Paid Parental Leave are responsible to repay the money they received while on this leave. If you do not return to active service for 12 calendar months, you will be required to pay back the UFT Parental Leave benefit.

People can borrow days before the birth in what is known as Maternity Disability. Once the baby is born, birth mothers can only borrow days if they take Maternity Leave. There is no right to borrow days if you use Paid Parental Leave. 

Parental leave, also known as Paid Parental Leave, provides for 6 weeks of paid leave for eligible employees. Birth mothers, fathers or other partners of birth mothers, adoptive parents and foster parents may be eligible for parental leave.  In the case of birth mothers, these 6 weeks can be supplemented by using CAR days from the day of birth until the CAR days run out, or 6 weeks worth of CAR days have been used (8 weeks in the case of a C-Section).  So, if a birth mother has the days in her bank, she would get 12 weeks (14 in the case of a C-section) of paid leave. Members cannot borrow days or use a grace period when taking parental leave. Members who take Parental Leave commit to returning to the DOE for a minimum of one year following the leave.  

Maternity leave is  a birth mother's right to use CAR days following a birth for 6 weeks (8 in the case of a C-section).  There is no additional right to paid leave.  Birth mothers who take maternity leave are allowed to borrow days and use a grace period within the 6 (or 8 weeks for C-sections) window,  There is no return-to-service requirement under maternity leave, though if a person borrows days, she has to either return to service or repay those days to avoid being billed for them. 

The city continues to provide health insurance in either case.