Originally appeared in the CAS Weekly Newsletter

Dear Legal Mailbag:

Earlier this week, I had an interaction with an employee that left me confused.  As the principal of an elementary school, I must make sure that the work gets done, and sometimes that requires reassigning duties.  My administrative assistant was out that day, and I needed copies of a handout for parents at a PTO meeting.  I asked a paraeducator to make the copies, and he went nuts.  “That’s not my job!” he told me abruptly.  He went on, saying “No one respects the work that I do.  I quit!”  With that, he walked out of the building, went to his car and drove away.

I made the copies myself, and I thought “good riddance” to myself because the guy is a bit of a drama queen.  The next day, however, he arrived at work on time, stopped by my office, and he sheepishly told me that he had changed his mind after talking to his wife.  Without further ado, he went to his assigned duties.

I was inclined to tell him to go home for good, but I wasn’t sure if his employment had truly ended when he quit and walked out the day before.  Besides, paraeducators are hard to find these days.  I did let him finish the day, and I expect he will show up again tomorrow.  For the future, however, I ask Legal Mailbag when is a “quit” a “quit”?

                                                                        Good-bye or Auf Wiedersehen?

Dear Auf Wiedersehen:

Legal Mailbag can answer your question, but this situation raises other issues that we should discuss as well.

First, simply saying “I quit” does not automatically end an employment relationship.  We all know that employers typically accept resignations, and such acceptance seals the deal.  That practice reflects the fact that a resignation may be considered an offer to end the employment relationship.  In contract law, however, an offer is not binding until it is accepted, and thus a resignation is not binding until one of two things happens – either the resignation is accepted or the employer takes action reflecting an acceptance of the resignation, such as posting a position and interviewing candidates.  In this case, the emotional outburst ending with “I quit!” likely did not end the employment relationship, and Legal Mailbag is relieved to know that you are prepared, at least for now, to let this paraeducator continue in employment.

Such is not always the case, and sometimes an employee’s offer to resign is a gift from God.  In such cases, it is important to act promptly to accept the resignation immediately.  The best approach is to notify the superintendent and have the superintendent, as the appointing authority, promptly accept the resignation.  However, when a school administrator receives a particularly welcome offer to resign, Legal Mailbag recommends that the school administrator immediately accept the resignation and then notify the superintendent, who should more formally also accept the resignation.

Your question raises two other issues that merit brief discussion.  While the directive you gave that triggered the paraeducator seems innocuous, we must be sensitive in our highly unionized world to the concept of bargaining unit work and unilateral changes in conditions of employment.  If incidental office support is an accepted part of the paraeducator’s duties, your directive raises no legal issues.  However, if an employer asks a union employee to perform tasks that are clearly outside the normal work of that employee, such a directive may be challenged in two ways.  First, the employee him- or herself and the union may claim that the employer violated the collective bargaining statutes by unilaterally changing working conditions.  Second, the union whose members typically perform such work may claim that the employer has unilaterally and without prior negotiation reassigned bargaining unit work to others, which may be an unfair labor practice.  With due regard for the exigencies that you face in running a building, Legal Mailbag advises that you be aware of these concerns and act accordingly.

Finally, you did not mention any disciplinary action that you took in response to this mini-drama.  Even though you decided not to accept the resignation offered in anger, it is never appropriate for an employee to walk off the job.  At the very least, you should warn this paraeducator in writing that his conduct was unacceptable and that any such misconduct in the future will result in further discipline, up to and including termination of employment.