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This is money that UFT members would have earned had they received 4% raises in 2009 and 2010.

Because you have a union that fights for you, eligible UFT-represented employees are entitled to be compensated for the two 4 percent raises that former Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave to members of some municipal unions in 2009 and 2010 but refused to give to public school educators and other city employees at the time.

When Bill de Blasio became mayor, he agreed to pay the money owed but said the city could not afford to pay it all at one time, so the UFT negotiated a contract that ensures UFT-represented employees will be made whole by 2020.

In accordance with that 2014 contract, UFT-represented employees currently on payroll who worked for the Department of Education between 2009 and 2018 (or a portion of that period) will receive a lump-sum payment in October of 25 percent of the amount they accrued between those years. That payment, which will be added to a regularly scheduled paycheck, is the third of five lump-sum payments between 2015 and 2020. (UFT-represented employees received the first payment of 12.5 percent of money owed in 2015 and the second payment of 12.5 percent of the money owed in 2017.)

Think of it as a bank account. If you have been continually employed, you have been depositing money in this account since Nov. 1, 2009. This October, you‘ll make your third withdrawal.

Teachers, paraprofessionals, guidance counselors and all other UFT titles on the Q Bank payroll will receive their third lump-sum payment as part of their Oct. 15 paycheck. Q Bank retirees will be paid on a supplement payroll on Oct. 20.

For therapists, school nurses, supervisors of nurses and therapists, educational officers and analysts, and other UFT titles on the H Bank payroll, the money will be in the Oct. 19 paycheck. H Bank retirees will be paid on a supplement payroll on Oct. 19.

If you are on paid parental leave for the October payment and return to work by the last day of February in 2019, you will get your lump-sum payment on March 15, 2019, instead. If you return to work after the last day of February, you will receive both your missed payment and the next lump-sum payment in October 2019, provided you are back on payroll by then.

If you are on another form of leave this October, you will receive your money on the date of the next scheduled lump-sum payment that you are back on payroll.

This October’s lump-sum payment comes on the heels of a 5 percent rate increase that all UFT-represented DOE employees received in May and June in accordance with the 2014 contract.

The DOE had not released the dates for per-session lump-sum payments by the time the newspaper went to press.

If you have questions about your lump-sum payment, you may file a Lump-Sum Inquiry Form.