No. Birth mothers must choose between two options:

1. Take the traditional maternity leave including any applicable right to borrow days and/or use a grace period; or
2. Take paid parental leave. Under this option, immediately following the birth of a child, a birth mother may choose to use up to six weeks of CAR days for a vaginal birth and may use up to eight weeks of CAR days for a C-section birth. Following the use of her CAR days, the birth mother can use paid parental leave for up to an additional six weeks — for a total of 12 to 14 weeks.

• If you physically gave birth to a child, you have the option to use your available CAR/sick day balance immediately after your child's birth, up to a maximum of six calendar weeks (eight weeks for a C-section) before taking paid parental leave.
• If you did not give birth to a child, you are eligible for up to six weeks of paid parental leave beginning on the date of the covered event.
• If both parents work for the DOE, as of the 2023 contract, they receive a combined total of 12 weeks of paid parental leave (six weeks each). 

Most leaves are applied for on the DOE website through SOLAS, the Self-Service Online Leave Application System (https://apps.schools.nyc/solas). Absences of one day or more, but less than 10, and intermittent FMLA leaves are not applied for online; pedagogues should talk to their school Payroll Secretary in these instances.

A leave may be denied because of incomplete medical documentation, not meeting eligibility requirements, not providing timely notice of the need for a leave, the health condition is not sufficiently serious, or a leave is determined not to be medically necessary. If there is missing information required from your leave application, you should receive notice in writing and you will have an opportunity to provide the necessary documentation.

You may take time following the death of a family member without loss of CAR days. If your parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, spouse or domestic partner, or parent of spouse or domestic partner or any other relative or step-relative of your immediate household should die, you are granted the day of death plus the next three calendar days (excluding weekends and holidays). Under the 2023 contract, members may delay taking all or part of their bereavement leave to any point within three months of the death if the delay is in connection with a funeral or a memorial service that is scheduled later. The superintendent may grant additional time with appropriate documentation.

See more about bereavement. 

Appointed pedagogues are entitled to a “calendar month” grace period, which pays you for all weekends and holidays for the calendar month following the exhaustion of the days in your sick bank and/or your borrowed days. Work days are deducted from your pay. The advantage of borrowing days and using the grace period is that since you remain on payroll, those days count toward your pension, seniority and pro-rata summer vacation pay, and it also keeps your health benefits intact.

If UFT represented DOE employees want to take additional time off following maternity or paid parental leave to care for their child, they may take an unpaid childcare leave until the September following the baby’s 4th birthday.

Most appointed pedagogues (lab specialists, school counselors, secretaries, social workers and psychologists and teachers) are eligible for a one year study sabbatical after 14 years of service. In addition, middle school, junior high or high school teachers/classroom pedagogues with at least 7 years of service are also eligible to apply for a 6 month study sabbatical for the spring semester only.

See the main UFT page on sabbaticals for more information. 

If you are excessively absent or late, you may receive a letter for your official file. If you are tenured, the DOE has the right, with sufficient notice, to file disciplinary charges against you. There is a special, expedited procedure when the DOE seeks to discipline a tenured teacher because of time and attendance issues, but in these cases, the hearing officer cannot terminate you, but rather levy penalties less than termination.

Members can apply for their paid parental leave 15 days before giving birth but no later than 10 days after delivery. If the birth date is significantly different from the due date, you can revise your information in SOLAS as long as you log back in within 10 days of giving birth. You must log into to SOLAS to confirm your baby's arrival date whenever the birth occurs.