There seems to be some widespread confusion on how colleagues can donate some of their Cumulative Absence Reserve (CAR) to others in the school building who may have need for them due to medical or family emergencies.
Educators can donate CAR days to colleagues only if they have at least 50 days in reserve and no more than 180 days. The limitations were set forth by the DOE, using the following rationale.
The 50 day CAR limit allows for the donated employee to have enough CAR days if they experience a major illness or injury themselves. The 180 day CAR limitation was determined to be the upper end of an employee's sacrifice in donating days. Since educators cannot exceed 200 days, it was felt that allowing an employee to donate excess days above 180 does not make it a sacrifice since they were in danger of losing the excess days anyway.
The DOE encourages the CAR donation program since they eliminate 2 days the DOE owes the educator for every day that the educator donates to a colleague. Therefore, if you give a colleague 5 days from your CAR, the DOE eliminates an additional 5 days from your remaining CAR, resulting in a 10 day elimination of your CAR. A good deal for the DOE.
Interestingly, it seems that in my experience the colleagues that push the CAR donation program, don't usually donate themselves. The reason being that they usually have less than 50 days in their CAR Then again, unless the colleague who needs the extra days has a major illness or injury and originally had an ample amount of days in their CAR, I don't donate my CAR days to a colleague that didn't bother to accumulate his or her days when they should have while healthy.
Remember, its important to accumulate your CAR days, just in case you are subject to a serious illness or injuryand that helps pay your salary while recovering.
12 comments:
Outstanding post Chaz. I have 125 days in my CAR. I like having them for what their purpose was designed for: serious injury or sickness. I see way too many newbie teachers use up 7-8 sick days a year and then the complain about not having days for when they get pregnant. This fact simply reinforces why the UFT better not agree to reduce sick days from the CAR for maternity leave. If you want to have a baby, save up your CAR days!!!
You can also borrow days from your future CAR if you need them.
I will NEVER donate any CAR days. There's plenty of days I didn't feel like going in but I forced myself out of bed. I didn't do that just to give them away at half their value. Honestly, most of the people who need days from others are in this situation because they didn't save their days like I do. It seems as if people either care about saving their days, or they don't, and you can't convince those who don't save to start doing so. They'll use every excuse in the book. I save mine because I want the money when I leave the system, or in case of an emergency. I'm also in agreement with anon 5:00, why reduce everyone's CAR days for a few people who didn't properly plan to have a kid.
I am saving my CAR days for retirement (terminal leave). Donating the days is a very bad deal and I'd rather donate money to the person if I feel strongly about helping the person. Many years ago (I was in my 7th year) and I had about 60 days, I was pressured by other teachers to give 5 days (I didn't know ten days would be taken out) to a teacher (a principal favorite) who needed the days. The person who got the days never even said thank you and I realize now that I gave that person what well over $1000.
I really wish they would get rid of this program.
Better to give money. Members can buy days back if they are below zero. Days are expensive. Dont treat them lightly.
If you are an ATR how many sick days can you use
without getting in trouble? And you have 180 days
in your CAR.
Unless I am vomiting or have a 100 degree fever, I am coming to school. I want my 120 CAR days in case I get hurt or sick. And by hurt, I mean like a broken leg. By sick, I mean like meningitus or something. My days are worth a lot of money when I retire or take terminal leave. I have a feeling the young teachers at my school would not donate what few days they have thus, I am not donating my surplus. Just like the Boy Scouts say: BE PREPARED.
I have almost 90 days now after only 11 years in the DOE.
Funny thing is my payroll secretary wants me to donate days to her because she has a negative balance.
I won't do it, of course, because I hardly know her.
I want to cash out the days at retirement and get a nice check every year for three years!
I thought about terminal retirement, but I think I would like the cash better.
I heard we have to physically go in the school every year after retirement and beg the payroll secretaries to file a form for us so we get each check.
That seems terrible to me, especially if you plan to move out of state.
Why wouldn't the DOE just have it programmed in their system to deposit your money at the required intervals?
5:52 PM You file one form for your sick days at Retirement. No need to go back to your school for your checks
You really have to crunch the numbers to see if terminal pay or terminal leave is better for you financially. A person with 35 years retired last year and it was better to take terminal pay. I will be retiring this year, and terminal leave give me over $2500 more than terminal pay when all is said and done!
First off, it is unethical for a secretary to ask you to donate days to her. Having said that, there has to be extenuating circumstances for the donation of CAR days to allowed. You can not receive CAR days just because you are in the negative or don't have many. Lastly, donation of CAR days are usually used when an employee has a serious illness and in that case I would absolutely donate my days. I feel sad that so many of you are judging others on how they use their CAR days, you don't know for sure that they are just wasting them. I had a teacher who had cancer and used all her days for chemo and radiation treatments and then when it was decided she needed a masectamy, she had already used all her days and borrowed an additional 20. Thank God there weree caring staff throughout the district who were willing to donate days to her. She shouldn't have to worry about feeding her family and paying bills when fighting for her life. Not wanting to donate CAR days is your right but please stop sitting by and judging others! Just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions.
To the ATR person asking about how many sick days you can use without getting in trouble. Once you use a combination of 10 personal or self-treated days, you will not be paid for any additional personal or self-treated days only medically certified.
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