Throughout the school year, teachers apply for “per-session” activities that are done either before school, 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-session rate listed in the contract. Selection for most per-session activities is based upon the individual criteria established in each posting that appears on the DOE website or in your school. If the activity you desire is specifically listed in the contract, selection is based upon your meeting the posted qualifications and your seniority in the system.
Upon completing two consecutive years of satisfactory service in the same activity you gain “retention rights,” giving you priority for hiring in future years in the same activity. To exercise your retention rights, you must indicate on the per-session application form (most per-session applications are filed online; some still require paper applications) that you are claiming such rights. You must be applying for the same activity in the time frame specified in the posting. You can exercise your retention rights to only one activity each school year, although you can apply for more than one per-session activity during that time.
As a matter of right, you can work up to 400 per-session hours in one year, from July 1 through June 30. If you want to work more than 400 hours, you need to obtain a waiver in writing from the executive director of the DOE Division of Human Resources.
There are certain high school extracurricular activities listed in the contract — athletic and non-athletic — that are paid based upon a maximum number of “sessions” allocated for each activity. A “session” is defined as two hours beyond the school day.
You should check the contract for the number of sessions for each activity you are interested in.
You accrue sick leave in a per-session activity on the basis of one session of sick leave per 20 consecutive sessions worked. If your sick leave is not used, you must apply through your payroll secretary to have the time transferred into your Cumulative Absence Reserve.
Like regular salary, per-session pay is now pensionable, as a result of a long legal battle that the UFT won.
For more information on per session work, see Per-Session Work »
Also see Cumulative Absence Reserve
Coaching per-session activities increased
The 2018 UFT-DOE Memorandum of Agreement increased the maximum number of sessions by one. See the chart below taken from the agreement.
Sessions shall be computed as follows:
| An afternoon of coaching football | 2 sessions |
| An afternoon of coaching (exclusive of football) | 1 session |
| A regularly scheduled football game or track meet | 3 sessions |
| A regularly scheduled game of basketball or baseball; track, cross country, soccer, swimming meet, handball, fencing, bowling, tennis, golf, wrestling or other regularly scheduled game for the activities listed above | 2.5 sessions |
(A session is defined as two (2) clock hours beyond the school day)
Earning sick-bank time
Teachers who work as coaches and in other per-session activities earn Cumulative Absence Reserve (CAR) time for per-session work.
If a teacher works in the same per-session activity between September and June, that teacher accrues per-session sick leave hours after every 20 consecutive sessions worked.
For per-session athletic coaches, the hours at the end of 20 consecutive sessions (regardless of the number of hours in each session) add up to the total hours worked in the 20-session period. The total is then divided by 20 to arrive at the average length of a session for sick leave to be transferred. All other teachers earn one session of sick leave for every 20 sessions worked after 20 consecutive sessions.
During a per-session summer activity, pedagogues accrue one sick day for each month of service. If you don’t take a sick day in July, you can take two in August. One sick day taken during a per-session summer activity can be self-treated, but the second day must have a doctor’s note.
At the end of the activity, the payroll secretary should fill out the Per Session Unused Sick Time Transfer Form documenting the accrued per-session sick time to be transferred to the member’s regular sick bank. This form is signed by the payroll secretary, the head of the activity and the member to certify the time is accurate. The member should keep a copy for his or her records.
For more information about per-session work, read Article 15 of the contract and Chancellor's Regulation C-175 and see forms for per session activities.