New York City Public Schools
New York, NY
see the full file on New York City Public Schoolsdocumented benefits (7)
| No experience needed | Substitute paraprofessional: work authorisation plus a high school diploma or GED is the whole entry bar — no college degree. You must be nominated by a school principal, then pass an English speaking and writing assessment and a state classroom-support test. |
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| Union contract | Paraprofessionals, including substitute paraprofessionals, are represented by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), and the substitute day rate is contractual. |
| Degree paid upfront | The Career Training Program gives eligible full-time paraprofessionals tuition assistance, and full-time paraprofessionals can get paid release time for college study — the paraprofessional-to-teacher route. |
| Benefits while part-time | offered |
| Hours a week to qualify | More than 20 hours a week is the line: DOE employees above it can pick from several health insurance plans, some with NO employee contribution at all, plus dental, vision, prescription cover and retiree health benefits. School kitchen posts are advertised as part-time employment WITH full benefits. Day-to-day substitute paraprofessionals, by contrast, are paid per day and get no benefits. |
| Works around classes | School kitchen jobs (School Lunch Helper, Senior School Lunch Helper) are a Monday-to-Friday work week with paid holidays, and are explicitly part-time posts that still carry full benefits — the schedule sits inside the school day and the school year. |
| Pension | Food service workers and other non-teaching DOE staff are in the Board of Education Retirement System (BERS), the city's defined benefit plan for non-pedagogical school employees. It does not replace Social Security — New York City school employees pay into both. Full-time paraprofessionals also get a pension, plus health insurance and paid leave. |
the legal floor where they are
Set by law, not by New York City Public Schools. It applies to every employer in NY.
| IVF cycles the state covers | New York requires three IVF cycles, from large groups only. Insurance Law §§ 3221(k)(6)(C) and 4303(s)(3) require large group policies to cover 'three cycles of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) used to treat infertility and prescription drugs that are prescribed for the IVF treatment'. Large group means more than 100 employees, and the law applies to policies issued or renewed on or after 1 January 2020. Age restrictions are not permitted, and an insurer may not discriminate on age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status or gender identity. Small group and individual plans must cover basic infertility treatment such as intrauterine insemination but are NOT required to cover IVF. THE LIMIT THAT DECIDES WHETHER THIS REACHES YOU: the Department of Financial Services states that 'the IVF law does not apply to self-funded ERISA plans', nor to Medicaid managed care, the Essential Plan or Medicare. KFF's 2025 employer survey puts 67% of covered workers in a self-funded plan and 80% at firms of 200 or more, so at most large New York employers this law does not apply and the fertility benefit on the page is the company's own choice. (New York Insurance Law §§ 3221(k)(6)(C) and 4303(s)(3), effective 1 January 2020.) |
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| Adoption leave the law gives | 12 workweeks of UNPAID job-protected leave in any 12-month period on the placement of a child for adoption or foster care, and only for employees who meet the FMLA eligibility test. There is no federal paid adoption leave. (Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)(B) and 2612(c); eligibility at 29 U.S.C. 2611(2) and (4). Quoted from the 2023 edition of the US Code.) |
| Pay when you are ill | No federal law requires any paid sick leave. The FLSA does not require payment for time not worked, and the FMLA gives 12 workweeks of UNPAID job-protected leave in any 12-month period for a serious health condition, and only for employees who meet the FMLA eligibility test. Any paid sick time comes from a state or city law, or from the employer's own choice. (Fair Labor Standards Act, per the Department of Labor's statement on payment for time not worked; Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)(D) and 2612(c). Quoted from the 2023 edition of the US Code on govinfo.gov.) |
Every claim above is sourced and dated. See sources on the full page.
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