Today

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Todays Presentation

• Welcome
• HR Connect
• Salary
• File Number
• Fingerprinting
• Health Benefits
• Retirement
• Certification and Licensing

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HR Connect

• HR Connect is a one-stop service and solution
  call center, providing DOE employees a single
  point of contact for all HR related questions,
  staffed by knowledgeable customer-service
  representatives.
• Hours of operation are Monday through Friday,
  900 AM 500 PM
• Call [phone]

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Salary Payment

• Salary is paid out semi-monthly over a twelve
  month period (24 payments per year).
• Your first paycheck will be at your school on
  September 15 (assuming you have completed all
  requirements and have been school processed by
  August 28).
• You will be able to sign up for Electronic Fund
  Transfer (Direct Deposit) at your school.
• Salary is based on a schedule which takes into
  account steps, differentials, and longevities.

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Salary Steps

• A salary step is an incremental increase in
  salary based on previous qualifying experience.
• For every half year of satisfactory teaching
  service within the NYC DOE, an appointed teacher
  will move up one step.
• Newly appointed teachers are eligible to receive
  credit for up to 7.5 years of prior teaching
  experience outside the NYC DOE and, in some
  limited situations, for related non-teaching
  experience.
• Newly hired teachers apply for salary step when
  they complete the teaching experience section of
  their TSN application. Please note You do not
  need to re-submit a paper application for salary
  step unless you wish to add information.
• You will be placed on the correct salary step
  within one to two payroll periods, and will be
  retroactively paid to your first day of
  employment.
• You will receive a certificate of salary status,
  including your salary step placement, by mail
  after the first payroll period.
• You can also find out your salary step by
  speaking with your payroll secretary or by
  calling HR Connect.

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Salary Differentials

• A salary differential is an incremental increase
  in salary based on academic credit, coursework,
  or degrees earned beyond your bachelors degree.
• Differentials include
• 30 Credits above and beyond the Bachelors degree
  requirements
• Masters Degree
• 60 Credits above and beyond the Bachelors (can
  include the Masters credits)
• Masters Degree plus 30 credits
• You must apply for salary differential within six
  months of the date you started teaching full-time
  in order to be granted retroactive payments to
  the date you started teaching.
• You must provide supporting documentation with
  your application, including a set of original
  undergraduate and additional/graduate
  transcripts. Transcripts must completely list all
  courses taken. If credits taken at a different
  institution are not listed on the transcript, you
  will also need original transcripts from that
  institution.
• You are strongly encouraged to file the required
  documentation as soon as possible, to ensure you
  are successfully able to submit a completed
  application within the 6-month time frame.

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Salary Longevities

• There are seven salary increments based on
  longevity (years of service) of working as a
  teacher in the NYC DOE. These increments are
  currently at the following years of service
  5,10,13,15,18, 20, and 22.
• A longevity payment is not a one-time payment.
  It is added to an employees annual salary once
  he or she completes the requisite number of years
  in the city school system and it continues each
  year until the teacher reaches the next longevity
  level.
• Eligible years is different for longevities than
  for salary steps as experience outside the NYC
  DOE is not applicable.

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Additional Salary Information

• Your salary step placement will be based upon
  verification of the experience information you
  included in your application.
• Student teaching and assistant teaching/teacher
  aide experience does not count towards salary
  step.
• All full-time teaching experience must be at
  least one semester or 6 months in duration and
  all full-time, related, non-teaching experience
  must be at least one year in duration for salary
  step.
• Salary differentials require an application
  (available on the DOE website) after you begin
  teaching.  As long as you apply within six months
  of your start date, any creditable differentials
  will be retroactive to your start date.  You can
  find more information on applying for salary
  differential, including teacher salary schedules
  and the differential application form, on the DOE
  website at schools.nyc.gov/teachersalary.

see the Office of Salary Services website at
schools.nyc.gov/teachersalary for detailed salary
information, including a complete list of
licenses that are eligible for related
non-teaching credit and the Areas of
Specialization list.
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File Number

• You do not need your file number to get
  payrolled, it is processed through your social
  security number.
• You will be assigned a file number automatically
  as part of the payrolling process.
• You can get your file number from your payroll
  secretary when you start the school year.
• Your file number will be important in the future
  to apply for per session (after school and summer
  school work) and other personnel changes.

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Have you been Fingerprinted?

• If not, please do so ASAP!
• All DOE employees must be fingerprinted.
  Fingerprinting services are available from the HR
  Connect Walk-In Center at 65 Court Street, Room
  102, in Brooklyn between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
• Detailed information about requirements for
  fingerprinting can be found online from the DOEs
  website or by calling HR Connect at (718)
  935-4000.

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Health Benefits

• All regular teachers who work at least 20
  hours/week are eligible for the New York City
  Health Benefits Program, including coverage for
  their legally eligible dependents.
• There is a choice of over 10 different health
  plans costs, providers, coverage, and benefits
  vary.
• The Summary Program Description Booklet provides
  a summary of benefit selections. To download the
  booklet and view comparison charts, visit
  www.nyc.gov/olr.
• There is an annual open enrollment period in the
  fall when employees can change providers.
• Buy-Out Waiver Program If you are covered under
  your spouses or domestic partners non-City
  health insurance plan, or through Medicare Part A
  and Part B, then you may be eligible for a
  buy-out waiver (currently 1,000 for a family
  coverage waiver and 500 for an individual
  coverage waiver). Application required.

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Health Benefits How to Enroll

• Submit a signed (Section H) Employee and Retiree
  Health Benefits Application (ERB) to the HR
  Connect Benefits Administration office.
  Applications can be obtained at www.nyc.gov/olr
  or from your payroll secretary.
• New employees or employees enrolling for the
  first time are required to provide acceptable
  documentation to support the eligibility status
  of all persons to be covered.
• Acceptable documents include Marriage
  certificate, birth certificate, domestic
  partnership certificate, legal guardianship
  papers, student certification each semester (if
  over 19 years of age).
• All Health Benefits related information should be
  sent to
• New York City Department of Education / HR
  Connect
• 65 Court Street, Room 101
• Brooklyn, NY 11201
• Attention Health Benefits Administration Office

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Health Benefits Enrollment Details and Dependent
Coverage

• Your coverage starts on your first day of
  employment, but you must apply for health
  benefits within 31 days of hire to be eligible
  retroactive to your first day of hire. The
  earlier you apply, the better.
• You will receive your insurance card within 4-6
  weeks after your form has been processed.
• Employees who are eligible for health benefits,
  but whose enrollment is still being processed,
  are covered for medical care. In the event that
  an eligible employee requires medical care before
  their enrollment is finalized and before they
  have received their health benefits card, the
  employee has two options
• HR Connect Health Benefits will work directly
  with the employee's chosen health benefits
  provider to ensure that the employee is issued a
  temporary member ID.
• Employee may pay for services out-of-pocket and
  be reimbursed for the charges. 
• Dependants are eligible if their relationship to
  the eligible participant is one of the following
• Legally married husband or wife
• A Domestic Partner
• Unmarried children under age 19
• Unmarried dependant children between 19-23 who
  are full-time students at an accredited,
  degree-granting educational institution
• Unmarried children who cannot support themselves
  because of a disability (medical verification is
  required)

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Health Benefits UFT Welfare Fund

• Dental, Vision, and Prescription Drugs
• All teachers are covered for dental, vision, and
  prescription drugs by the United Federation of
  Teachers (UFT) Welfare Fund.
• All new members must
• Complete a UFT Welfare Fund Enrollment Form.
  (This enrollment is separate from any UFT
  Membership and Department of Education Health
  Plan applications.) This enrollment form is
  available from the Fund office or can been done
  on-line at www.uftwf.org.
• Attach applicable documentation (e.g. birth
  certificate, marriage certificate or domestic
  partnership registration) to the enrollment form.
  UFT Welfare Fund related information should be
  sent to
• UFT Welfare Fund
• 52 Broadway
• New York, NY 10004
• Coverage for eligible members begins on their
  first day of employment.
• Visit http//www.uft.org/member/benefits/redapplei
  nserv/ for more information or call the UFT at
  [phone].

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Retirement

• Qualified Pension Plan Teachers Retirement
  System (TRS)
• This pension plan provides a monthly allowance in
  retirement based on your years of service and
  participation.
• Membership is mandatory for all teachers and
  contributions of 4.85 of your gross salary begin
  automatically with your first paycheck,
  continuing for the first ten years of service.
• Generally, members attain vested status (become
  eligible to receive a retirement allowance at age
  55) after completion of five years of active
  service.
• You will receive a TRS Welcome Kit with
  Enrollment Application this fall within 30 days
  of your appointment.
• Voluntary tax-deferred savings plan As a TRS
  member you are also eligible to enroll in a Tax
  Deferred Annuity (TDA) program where a payroll
  deduction is taken in pre-tax dollars and placed
  in an annuity or mutual fund investment which is
  available at retirement.

Full time substitutes and non-appointed
teachers are covered by the Board of Education
Retirement System (BERS)
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Certification and Licensing Requirements

• New York State requires all teachers to be
  certified.
• Once your NY State certificate has been issued,
  you will also receive a New York City license,
  automatically generated by New York City when you
  are hired. Your NYC license identifies the area
  in which you will accrue seniority and complete
  probation. Please note Your State certificate
  and New York City license are two different
  things.
• It is your responsibility to obtain and maintain
  your certificate.
• Know when your certificate expires.
• Apply for your next level certificate at least 6
  months before your current certificate expires.
• You must maintain a state certificate in the
  subject and grade level of your NYC license. If
  you earn a certificate in a different subject or
  grade level than the certificate under which you
  were hired and your current certificate expires,
  be sure your current certificate is compatible
  with your NYC license.
• Contact information
• NYC certification hotline [phone] or
  [phone]
• New York State website www.highered.nysed.gov/tc
  ert
• Visit http//schools.nyc.gov

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• Thank you for coming!
• Questions?