Resignation letter when a contract ends?
May 30, 2018 2:53 PM Subscribe
I currently work for a university as a post-doc. My contract is up unexpectedly at the end of June (not related to my performance at all, but rather a grant moving to a different institution). For offboarding they've asked me for a resignation letter. This seems odd to me, since I'm not resigning - my contract is ending sooner than I'd like through no input of my own. Is this fishy, and do I give up any rights by putting my name on a statement of resignation?
You're in the USA. Public or private? This is on a PI's grant or an institutional grant? All relevant......
Edit: as brainmouse says, who is asking?
....But yes in all contexts, this is fishy or at least deserves explanation - I might talk to an employment lawyer about it.
posted by lalochezia at 3:00 PM on May 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
Edit: as brainmouse says, who is asking?
....But yes in all contexts, this is fishy or at least deserves explanation - I might talk to an employment lawyer about it.
posted by lalochezia at 3:00 PM on May 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
You are not resigning. Hence, there's no reason to provide a resignation letter. As a pragmatic matter, they don't need a resignation letter to terminate your employment (how do you think they fire people?).
posted by saeculorum at 3:18 PM on May 30, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by saeculorum at 3:18 PM on May 30, 2018 [7 favorites]
I work in academic HR, and I work with postdocs on contracts. If you were one of my postdocs and your appointment was expiring on June 30, I would not ask you for or expect you to provide a resignation letter.
That said, we have a general off-boarding checklist that we use for departing academics. One of the items on the checklist is "Obtain Letter of Resignation" from employees whose departures are voluntary. *I* know that the letter would be unnecessary in your case, but someone who hasn't been here as long might not, and they might default to following the checklist verbatim.
Is it possible that's what happened in your case? It's entirely possible that nothing nefarious or suspect is going on. It could just be that someone on the administrative staff could use a little more training.
posted by mudpuppie at 3:25 PM on May 30, 2018 [20 favorites]
That said, we have a general off-boarding checklist that we use for departing academics. One of the items on the checklist is "Obtain Letter of Resignation" from employees whose departures are voluntary. *I* know that the letter would be unnecessary in your case, but someone who hasn't been here as long might not, and they might default to following the checklist verbatim.
Is it possible that's what happened in your case? It's entirely possible that nothing nefarious or suspect is going on. It could just be that someone on the administrative staff could use a little more training.
posted by mudpuppie at 3:25 PM on May 30, 2018 [20 favorites]
Is this fishy, and do I give up any rights by putting my name on a statement of resignation?
I think a voluntary resignation would involve some surrender of rights to unemployment benefits or a wrongful dismissal claim. I would not only refuse but write an email saying that the end of your contract is not voluntary and you will therefore decline to provide a resignation letter.
I don't think anyone is necessarily trying to screw you but eliminating the possibility of you enforcing various rights at the end of your employment is definitely of benefit to an employer and is one reason why they make severance offers. (Which are very unlikely for a postdoc.)
posted by grouse at 3:35 PM on May 30, 2018 [4 favorites]
I think a voluntary resignation would involve some surrender of rights to unemployment benefits or a wrongful dismissal claim. I would not only refuse but write an email saying that the end of your contract is not voluntary and you will therefore decline to provide a resignation letter.
I don't think anyone is necessarily trying to screw you but eliminating the possibility of you enforcing various rights at the end of your employment is definitely of benefit to an employer and is one reason why they make severance offers. (Which are very unlikely for a postdoc.)
posted by grouse at 3:35 PM on May 30, 2018 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: Yeah, sorry, light on the original details:
posted by codacorolla at 3:40 PM on May 30, 2018
- Public, state school.
- Since this was a limited contract anyway, I don't think I qualify for unemployment. Regardless, I have another position lined up after this and wouldn't be collecting anyway.
- My funding was shared between a grant awarded through an government agency, and through the institution itself.
- The request came from departmental HR, who I had called up last week because I was curious about the offboarding process - I'll be moving to new contract work, and need to figure out when my benefits expire.
posted by codacorolla at 3:40 PM on May 30, 2018
I'm about to (voluntarily) quit my postdoc, and my institution's admin sent me a checklist similar to the one mudpuppie describes, with "Submit a letter of resignation to soandso" right at the top. That said, my "letter of resignation" was an email to the admin stating my last date and I didn't get asked for anything more formal.
posted by quaking fajita at 3:42 PM on May 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by quaking fajita at 3:42 PM on May 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
It seems that you would happily work for your original term. I’m guessing you’d also not mind working the same term from home or as a ‘ghost-doc’ even when the grant moves. If those are true, you should ask for them. And if they say no, then you should explain you will not be resigning because you would like to keep your job, and if they choose to terminate or violate your original contract that’s on them.
posted by SaltySalticid at 3:42 PM on May 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by SaltySalticid at 3:42 PM on May 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
Sorry I didn’t see your follow up. If you really don’t care about any attempts to stay on or unemployment and want to be especially nice to them in this situation, sure, offer a letter stating your last official date to be one day before your next job starts, and that should keep you properly insured.
posted by SaltySalticid at 4:10 PM on May 30, 2018
posted by SaltySalticid at 4:10 PM on May 30, 2018
You may well be eligible for unemployment, for what it's worth. I'm adjunct faculty at a university, and am able to collect unemployment when my contract comes to an end at the end of the semester. In California at least, there's a question on the unemployment application that basically asks whether you're contingent faculty, although I forget the specific phrasing.
posted by tapir-whorf at 5:14 PM on May 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by tapir-whorf at 5:14 PM on May 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
DO NOT DO THIS unless a knowledgeable someone with only your interests in mind (no employees of this institution, for example) says you should. This strongly smells of someone trying to screw you over - a similar thing has happened to me, and it was indeed someone trying to screw me over.
What are they going to do if you don't give them a letter of resignation? Keep paying you? Oh no, anything but that!
This smells fishy to me too. Investigate carefully before doing anything.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 6:49 PM on May 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
What are they going to do if you don't give them a letter of resignation? Keep paying you? Oh no, anything but that!
This smells fishy to me too. Investigate carefully before doing anything.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 6:49 PM on May 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
I think if it were me, I would state quite clearly that you are writing the letter at their request, the reason being that their contract is ending earlier than you expected, and that you are aware that you will no longer be in their employ after the date. I wouldn't write it as a "letter of resignation", but as a "letter of acceptance of the circumstances beyond my control".
Just my two cents.
posted by itsflyable at 8:15 PM on May 30, 2018 [4 favorites]
Just my two cents.
posted by itsflyable at 8:15 PM on May 30, 2018 [4 favorites]
> I think if it were me, I would state quite clearly that you are writing the letter at their request, the reason being that their contract is ending earlier than you expected, and that you are aware that you will no longer be in their employ after the date. I wouldn't write it as a "letter of resignation", but as a "letter of acceptance of the circumstances beyond my control".
Yeah, this is my advice, too. Likely it's just an HR person following a standard checklist like a robot rather than anything intentionally nefarious, but if they really want to tick the "obtain letter" box, go ahead and write a very boring letter stating the facts of your separation from this position.
posted by desuetude at 11:34 PM on May 30, 2018
Yeah, this is my advice, too. Likely it's just an HR person following a standard checklist like a robot rather than anything intentionally nefarious, but if they really want to tick the "obtain letter" box, go ahead and write a very boring letter stating the facts of your separation from this position.
posted by desuetude at 11:34 PM on May 30, 2018
I'm in the UK but if this happened here i would be concerned they were trying to screw you on redundancy payments.
posted by biffa at 1:15 AM on May 31, 2018
posted by biffa at 1:15 AM on May 31, 2018
Even if you have no intention of seeking unemployment coverage, do not voluntarily make yourself ineligible. Things have a way of changing, you know.
posted by megatherium at 4:04 AM on May 31, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by megatherium at 4:04 AM on May 31, 2018 [3 favorites]
You don't need to use the word "resign" in your letter, you're not resigning. If a letter is truly required, I'd write a one sentence letter:
"Due to the unexpected termination of my contract / grant, my last day at work will be [date]. Signed, Codacorolla"
That's it.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 6:26 AM on May 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
"Due to the unexpected termination of my contract / grant, my last day at work will be [date]. Signed, Codacorolla"
That's it.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 6:26 AM on May 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
My contract is up unexpectedly at the end of June (not related to my performance at all, but rather a grant moving to a different institution).
My first reaction was pretty similar to that of mudpuppie. However, I am now wondering if this request is because they did not actually include a termination clause for the situation at hand, and they are asking for this because it is the easiest way to ensure they are not obligated to continue paying you regardless of the grant. (FWIW, I work at an NGO that was born of a university program, so a lot of our legacy systems and policies reflect that heritage. And we would never issue a contract that didn't allow us the ability to terminate on the basis of loss of funding. But that doesn't mean everyone is always that careful.)
So, in your shoes I'd read the contract very carefully, and write my letter accordingly. If there is such a clause, I'd write a letter that says I was notified on x date that my contract was being prematurely terminated consistent with x clause. If instead there is no such clause, they may be asking for this because you can usually terminate a contract if both parties agree, even if there's no specific clause allowing for it, and this may be them trying to get your written agreement. Refusing it would in that case be potentially viable legally, though almost certainly a bridge-burning move. If I were to decide I didn't want to burn that bridge, I'd write my letter as an acknowledgement of their request to terminate my contract on x date and noting my agreement to their request.
In neither case would I write it as a resignation. IANAL, IAA Contract Administrator, IANYCA, TINLA etc
posted by solotoro at 6:36 AM on May 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
My first reaction was pretty similar to that of mudpuppie. However, I am now wondering if this request is because they did not actually include a termination clause for the situation at hand, and they are asking for this because it is the easiest way to ensure they are not obligated to continue paying you regardless of the grant. (FWIW, I work at an NGO that was born of a university program, so a lot of our legacy systems and policies reflect that heritage. And we would never issue a contract that didn't allow us the ability to terminate on the basis of loss of funding. But that doesn't mean everyone is always that careful.)
So, in your shoes I'd read the contract very carefully, and write my letter accordingly. If there is such a clause, I'd write a letter that says I was notified on x date that my contract was being prematurely terminated consistent with x clause. If instead there is no such clause, they may be asking for this because you can usually terminate a contract if both parties agree, even if there's no specific clause allowing for it, and this may be them trying to get your written agreement. Refusing it would in that case be potentially viable legally, though almost certainly a bridge-burning move. If I were to decide I didn't want to burn that bridge, I'd write my letter as an acknowledgement of their request to terminate my contract on x date and noting my agreement to their request.
In neither case would I write it as a resignation. IANAL, IAA Contract Administrator, IANYCA, TINLA etc
posted by solotoro at 6:36 AM on May 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Do they have any leverage to get you to do this? Who is the "they" that is asking? University HR or your PI or something else? If there isn't a good reason to do this, I wouldn't.
posted by brainmouse at 2:58 PM on May 30, 2018 [10 favorites]