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A list of the most commonly asked questions.
You are entitled to only one final consultation during your career, so most members complete them in the final months of work.
To make an appointment, call 212-331-6311 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Meetings are scheduled in the borough office most convenient to you. If you are a BERS member, call 929-305-3800 to schedule an appointment with a BERS representative.
During the final pension consultation you will be able to:
- Estimate your retirement allowance;
- Discuss using the Teachers' Retirement System or the Board of Education Retirement System as a means for protecting heirs and beneficiaries;
- Discuss removing contributions, where permissible, from the system at retirement;
- Aid you in completing the retirement application;
- Learn about health and welfare fund benefits;
- Answer all of your other retirement questions.
If you have several questions or are planning a career change, resignation or retirement, you should make an appointment for a preliminary pension consultation at one of the UFT's borough offices. At this private consultation, you will receive an estimate of your retirement allowance and answers to your questions about retirement benefits. We advise that everyone have a minimum of one preliminary borough consultation before your final consultation. You may have more than one preliminary consultation during your career. To make a preliminary appointment, call 212-331-6311 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.
NYSUT has a mortgage program. For more information, visit their website at: https://memberbenefits.nysut.org/news-events/news/2019/january/mortgage-discount-program.
If you travel to work by public transportation, you can save money by taking part in the City of New York Commuter Benefits Program, which covers New York City and the tri-state area.
This city benefit enables UFT members to pay for allowable commuting costs with pretax dollars. Participating in the program can mean a savings of up to 30 percent on monthly commuting expenses, depending on the cost of your transit travel and your individual tax situation. Calculate your estimated savings » As of Jan. 1, 2024, the pre-tax limit increased to $315, up from $300.
What’s covered
The program, administered by Edenred, covers virtually any transit system in the tri-state area. Here’s a partial list:
- New York City Transit, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, New Jersey Transit, PATH and NY Waterway
- Paratransit and the MTA’s Access-A-Ride program
- Parking at or near public transit to commute to work, with the Park-n-Ride program
How to sign up
If you want to enroll or change, suspend or discontinue payroll deductions in the Commuter Benefits Program, you can do so online at the city Department of Education’s payroll portal. Remember to keep your current address updated with Edenred; changing your address with the NYC DOE will not automatically update your address with Edenred. For more information, see Updating Your Commuter Benefits Account.
You can also complete a paper application by downloading an Edenred website for more information.
Transit Pass Plan: This plan allows you to arrange for home delivery of your transit provider passes and tickets through Edenred. See the extensive catalog of transit providers in the tri-state area. As of Jan. 1, 2024, the pre-tax limit increased to $315, up from $300.
Annual Transit Card: Formerly called WageWorks Premium TransitChek MetroCard (PMC), this is an annual, unlimited ride MetroCard that is accepted wherever the MTA 30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard is accepted. The Annual Transit Card allows you to take unlimited rides on local buses and the subway throughout the five boroughs. The Annual Transit Card is paid through deductions equal to the cost of the MTA 30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard.
Park-n-Ride: This plan allows you to use pre- and post-tax payroll deductions to pay for parking at or near a public transportation stop or station that you use to get to work. Only transit-related parking is eligible.You must be enrolled in one of the other Commuter Benefits Plans in order to participate in the Park-n-Ride program. You will incur a post-tax administrative fee of $2.05 for the Park-n-Ride plan. Cash reimbursement is a parking option (but not a transit option).
Access-A-Ride/Paratransit: This plan allows employees to receive paratransit service from a transit provider in the tri-state area, including the MTA New York City Transit’s Access-A-Ride. The city will pay the monthly $2.05 administrative fee. Get more information »
Contact information
If you have questions about any of the plans, visit the Edenred website or call 833-584-8109 from Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
You can fill out a new COPE contribution form and return your completed form to your chapter leader:
You can also call the UFT at 212-331-6311 (retirees, call 212-331-6314) and request a change in your COPE contribution over the phone.
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 apply for a sabbatical by logging onto the DOE's Self Online Leave Application System (SOLAS). SOLAS is available at https://apps.schools.nyc/solas.
If you are a teacher with 7 years of service, you could be eligible for a six-month sabbatical. People on six-month sabbaticals are paid 60% of their regular pay. People who are on year-long sabbaticals (which require 14 years of service) receive 70% of their regular pay.
See the UFT's main page on sabbaticals for more information.
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.
When you return from a leave of absence, in most cases you return to your school or worksite. In some cases, you may be excessed while on a leave, if you were the least senior person in your license area and your school experienced a drop in enrollment. Some titles, like Guidance Counselors, Speech Teachers and Occupational and Physical Therapists have time limits for a right of return to your school or worksite.