The UFT secured paid parental leave in June 2018 after months of intense negotiations with the Department of Education. The policy provides six weeks of time off at full salary for maternity, paternity, adoption and foster care leave. For more...

Occasionally a Department of Education employee is sued (for example, by a parent) because of something he or she allegedly did at work. When the New York City Corporation Counsel finds that the employee broke no rules or laws in carrying out their...

If the police should arrest you in school for any reason, work-related or not, you or your chapter leader should immediately contact your district representative, who will contact the UFT's central office for assistance. You should give the UFT...

Every UFT member has an official school file. There is only one official school file. Any additional folders, notes or critiques cannot be used as official records against the employee. This file may contain an employee's observation reports, annual...

Before any letter is placed in your file, you must be given an opportunity to read it and acknowledge its receipt by signing it. Signing it does not necessarily mean that you agree with it. If the letter is negative, you should consider writing a...

Counseling memos are not a disciplinary tool. A counseling memo may only be written to an employee to make him/her aware of a rule, policy, procedure, practice or expectation. A counseling memo cannot include any disciplinary action or threat of...

If you are a first-year teacher who has not had prior teaching experience, you are entitled to one-to-one mentoring throughout your first year. The mentor assigned to you is an experienced colleague who has been trained extensively in ways to best...

Throughout the school year, teachers apply for “per-session” activities that are done either before or after school, on the weekend or holidays, or during the summer. If you apply for and are accepted for such an activity, you are paid at the per...

UFT members have specific rights regarding program preferences and professional activities. Here’s what you should know before you make your requests. Program preferences Each spring (or each term in some high schools), you request an assignment for...

Elementary Schools. Most schools are programmed for either seven or eight periods per day. In seven-period schools, you are scheduled for a daily duty-free lunch period and five preparation periods per week. In eight-period schools, in addition to...