How to Fill Out Form OP 198: NYC DOE Sick Leave Application

The OP 198 form is the NYC Department of Education’s Application for Excuse of Absence for Personal Illness, and every pedagogue — teachers, counselors, and other instructional staff — files one after each illness absence. You complete the top of the form yourself, have a physician fill in the medical section when required, and hand it to your principal on your return. Blank copies are available from your school’s payroll secretary, your UFT chapter leader, or the UFT website.¹

When You File One

You file an OP 198 for every illness absence, from a single self-treated sick day up through a medically certified absence of 20 consecutive school days. Consecutive days out for the same illness go on one form. If you’re out Tuesday, back Wednesday and Thursday, then out again the following week, each stretch of absence needs its own OP 198.²

The same form handles several situations, and what you check on it — and what documentation has to come with it — depends on which applies:

Self-treated illness. You get up to 10 self-treated sick days a school year without a doctor’s note, provided you have days in your Cumulative Absence Reserve (C.A.R.). Three of those 10 may be used for personal business that can only be handled during school hours. Take an 11th self-treated day without medical documentation and you won’t be paid for it, even if your C.A.R. still has days on it.³
Doctor-certified illness of 1 to 20 consecutive school days. Your physician completes Section IV; both copies go to the Medical Division marked “For Information of Medical Division.”²
Absence over 20 consecutive school days. A separate confidential medical report, Form OP 407, replaces Section IV. The application is marked “Request for Medical Evaluation” and forwarded to the Medical Division.²
Children’s diseases. If you catch measles, mumps, or chicken pox from a student, the days are non-attendance and aren’t deducted from your C.A.R. You still file an OP 198, marked “Request for Medical Evaluation,” with physician certification regardless of length.³
Line-of-duty injury. Same routing as children’s diseases: mark the form “Request for Medical Evaluation” and include medical certification no matter how brief the absence.²

How To Fill Out Each Section

The OP 198 is a two-page, multi-copy form with five sections. You handle the first two, your principal handles the third, and the rest is for medical personnel and the DOE Medical Division.

Section I: Your Information

Enter your full name, home address, school number or name, school address, file number, Social Security number, school district number, license area, and years of service. List the exact dates you were absent. The section also asks for data on C.A.R. charges and self-treated days. If you don’t know your current C.A.R. balance, your payroll secretary can look it up.²

Section II: Type of Absence

Check the boxes that fit. For a self-treated absence, check that box and write a brief reason such as “cold” or “flu.” If your C.A.R. is exhausted and you’re requesting to borrow days, indicate that here. Borrowed days can go up to 10 and appear as a negative balance in your C.A.R.²

Section III: Principal’s Review

Leave this blank. Your principal marks the application approved or disapproved. For ordinary illness of 10 consecutive school days or fewer, the principal can grant the absence without sending the form beyond the school. For longer stretches, the principal may route it for medical evaluation at their discretion.²

Section IV: Physician Certification

Your doctor or authorized medical practitioner fills this in when the absence is medically certified. For a self-treated day, it can be left blank. For children’s diseases and line-of-duty injuries, Section IV is required no matter how short the absence.

One detail that catches people out: medical exams or lab tests that could have been scheduled outside school hours generally aren’t paid, with an exception of one day per school year. If your physician states in Section IV that the test could only be performed during school hours, the absence can still be paid.²

Section V: Medical Division

The DOE Medical Division fills this in after receiving the form, when applicable. You write nothing here.

Where the Form Goes After You Sign It

Give the completed form to your principal promptly after returning to work. If a doctor’s note is required, DOE policy expects the medical documentation within three days of your return.⁴

Routing from there depends on the absence:

Ordinary illness of 10 or fewer consecutive school days. Copy 1 stays in the school file and Copy 2 is discarded. The form doesn’t leave the building.
Everything else. Both copies go to the Medical Division. That covers illness over 10 consecutive days when the principal chooses to route it, all absences over 20 consecutive days, children’s diseases, and line-of-duty injuries.²

Borrowing Sick Days When Your C.A.R. Is Empty

If your C.A.R. hits zero and you’re still too sick to work, the OP 198 lets you request up to 10 borrowed days. They show as a negative balance, and as you earn new sick time, each accrued day is applied to that debt before it becomes available for future use.² To borrow, check the box in Section II and have your physician complete Section IV. Borrowing always requires medical certification.

Related Forms

The OP 198 covers personal illness and the specific situations above, nothing else. Other absences need different paperwork:

OP 201, Application for Excuse of Absence Without Pay and/or as Non-Attendance. Use it for a death in the family, jury duty, graduation, religious observance, or an unpaid day off.
OP 221, Application to Attend Meeting, Conference or Convention Outside NYC. Use it for a professional conference, paid as non-attendance or unpaid.
OP 407, Confidential Medical Report. Required when your absence exceeds 20 consecutive school days, submitted in place of Section IV.²

All of these are available from your school’s payroll secretary, your UFT chapter leader, or the UFT website’s forms and documents page.¹

1
United Federation of Teachers. Forms for Leaves and Absences
2
United Federation of Teachers. OP 198 Form
3
United Federation of Teachers. Absences
4
NYC InfoHub. Sick Leave