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 the new 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, they receive a combined total of six weeks of paid parental leave. The six weeks can run concurrently (three weeks each, at the same time) or consecutively (three weeks for one parent followed by three weeks for the other parent, or four weeks for one and two weeks for the other, etc.).

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. 

Both parents can receive Paid Parental Leave if they both work for the DOE in UFT-represented titles. However, in these cases, the 6 weeks are split between the 2 parents.

Applications will be processed to prioritize the delivering parent’s request. As such, we encourage both parents to appropriately plan for their usage together. The six weeks of UFT Parental Leave can run concurrently (three weeks each, at the same time) or consecutively (three weeks for one parent followed by three weeks for the other parent, or four weeks for one and two weeks for the other, zero weeks for the delivering parent and six weeks for the non-delivering parent, etc.).

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 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.

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 not 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. 

Unless there are special circumstances, you will not be eligible for a parental leave if you do not submit an application within 10 days of the birth. Late applications will be accepted and subject to review for valid special circumstances, which could relate to, but is not limited to, one of the following: a medical condition of the employee or the employee's family member, a premature birth, a death in the family, or reasonable travel necessary to adopt a child. 

For delivering parents, failure to submit during the proper time frame may result in being placed into a limited version of Traditional Maternity Leave WITHOUT the right to borrow days or to use a grace period.