Short-term disability plan

In-service UFT members have the protection of a short-term disability plan that can provide valuable income when personal illness renders them temporarily unable to work. (This benefit does not provide coverage for injuries-in-the-line-of-duty or no-fault claims, which provide their own set of benefits.)

Teachers and other pedagogues approved for this benefit would receive $350 a week up to a maximum of 52 weeks while paraprofessionals and other groups in the same salary range would receive $250 per week up to a maximum of 52 weeks.

Eligibility criteria

To qualify for the disability benefit, members must have exhausted their sick bank (Cumulative Absence Reserve or “CAR”) and have been removed from the Department of Education payroll. After a member has used up his or her CAR (and any borrowed sick days), an unpaid waiting period of 28 consecutive days for pedagogues and 14 consecutive days for nonpedagogues and paraprofessionals must be satisfied before the disability benefit payment can begin.

The difference in the length of the waiting period reflects the “DOE grace period” for which eligible pedagogues can apply; it provides approximately two weeks of prorated salary.
A member must be on an authorized leave of absence without pay for Restoration of Health or a Family and Medical Leave Act leave for personal illness.

Application process

When you become temporarily disabled and have exhausted your CAR, you must file (through your school’s payroll secretary) for a leave of absence without pay for Restoration of Health or a Family and Medical Leave Act leave for personal illness. As part of this DOE filing, your doctor must complete a confidential medical report form (DOE form OP407) documenting your disability.

To begin the process of applying for disability benefits, members should call the UFT Welfare Fund Disability Unit at 1-212-539-0500 to request a disability claim form (DBL1 Initial Application). You need to attach a copy of the DOE’s approval of your medical leave to the completed claim form.

Upon receipt of your claim form, the Welfare Fund will assign you a disability representative who can answer any questions you might have. Your application will be reviewed by the Welfare Fund’s medical advisor who will determine if you are disabled and, if so, the length of the disability period. Benefit payments will begin after the medical advisor approves your claim and the Welfare Fund has received all required information and documentation.

Maternity-related disability

Benefits for maternity-related disability are provided for a maximum of six weeks after normal deliveries and eight weeks after Caesarean sections. These are considered routine pregnancies. The same eligibility rules as other disabilities (i.e., no more days in your CAR, unpaid waiting period) apply to maternity-related disabilities.

However, for complicated pregnancies a member may be entitled to up to 52 weeks of disability benefits, as determined by the Welfare Fund’s medical advisor.