CAR Days & Sick Leave

Your unused sick days don’t just disappear when you retire. They collect in your CAR balance and can turn into extra TRS service credit — more pension for years you never worked.

CAR stands for Cumulative Absence Reserve, the DOE’s bank for the sick days you didn’t use. This page explains how it works. Only TRS and the DOE can give you your exact balance and conversion — this helps you ask the right questions.

What CAR days are

Every year, unused sick days accrue into your CAR balance and build up over your whole career. At retirement, eligible CAR days can be converted into extra TRS service credit instead of being forfeited. For long-serving teachers, this is one of the more valuable retirement benefits.

How days become service credit

The DOE tracks your accumulated unused sick days, and TRS converts eligible CAR days into additional months or years of service credit using a standard formula — generally a set number of days per month of credit.

• Extra service credit boosts your pension without additional years actually worked.
• Some long-career teachers accumulate enough for a year or more of extra credit — but it varies a lot by attendance history.
• In some cases, converted credit can help you reach a service-year milestone you’d otherwise be short of. It can’t substitute for age requirements.

What it does — and doesn’t — affect

• Service credit: CAR conversion adds to your years of service.
• Final Average Salary: not affected — your FAS is based on your actual salary history.
• Retiree health insurance: not affected — eligibility is based on total years of service and other DOE/city rules.

Cash or credit? It depends on your contract

For most UFT-represented teachers, CAR days are converted to service credit, not paid out in cash. Accrual, conversion rates, and any payout provisions are governed by your collective bargaining agreement, so the specifics differ by title and bargaining unit.

• UFT vs. CSA: accrual, caps, and conversion rules can differ between UFT teachers, CSA administrators, and other DOE titles.
• Per-session and per-diem work: generally accrues sick leave separately (if at all) from your primary-title CAR balance — ask DOE payroll how yours is tracked.
• Annual (vacation) leave for 12-month employees: a separate benefit that may be paid out differently at separation. CAR/sick leave is about illness absences.

Confirm your balance

The DOE keeps cumulative sick-leave records for your entire employment history, which is exactly why it’s worth verifying yours periodically over a long career.

• Request your CAR/sick-leave balance through DOE payroll or your school’s payroll secretary — well before you retire.
• At retirement, the DOE reports your balance directly to TRS, and TRS independently verifies it. You usually need no extra documentation beyond your standard retirement application.
• To fix a discrepancy, start with your payroll secretary or DOE Human Resources; if unresolved, TRS can help reconcile the record.
• CAR balances generally don’t expire while you’re still employed, but confirm whether any plan or contract changes affect accrual caps.

Should you save sick days?

That’s a personal call. Don’t skip necessary sick time for genuine illness just for pension planning. But if you have discretionary flexibility, preserving CAR balance can meaningfully add retirement service credit.