Can I quit, or am I screwed?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

At the moment, I’m hired as a research assistant for a department that’s not the same as the one I’m getting my degree from. When I got hired in July, I said I anticipated staying for the year (which is true). I’ve since discovered that I hate working here, and I’ve been offered a very nice teaching assistantship. I’d like to take it.

Here’s the snag–when I got hired, I signed a contract. In one paragraph, there’s the following text:

"…A [department] Graduate Associate cannot accept employment outside of [department]. The Graduate Research Associate must notify the supervisor immediately if considering the following:

a) Time off
b) Change in enrollment
c) Changes in work schedule
d) Additional employment "

So does this mean that I can’t quit this crap, even if it’s the end of an academic term? The contract also states that “…Quarterly continuation of this agreement is contingent upon successful performance of your assigned duties as well as academic performance.” So obviously they’re not stuck with me if they don’t want to be–am I stuck with them? Is the only way out of this to be completely negligent for the next two weeks? Do I have to goof off or screw up on such a monumental scale that they’d rather can than keep me?

Any grad students out there, or others with experiences like mine–can I quit, or would I be screwed completely if I even tried to get out of here?

I was told that I had teaching eligibility a couple of weeks ago, but I wasn’t going to give notice (or ask to be released from the contract) until the 15th. (I decided not to say anything earlier, because a co-worker of mine was a decent human being about leaving the department. He told his boss that he was leaving at the beginning of this quarter. He then found out that this department does not pay its grad assistants for the last month of the last quarter that assistants work for the department!)

2

Can you speak with someone in your current department about mutually agreeing to terminate the contract without enalty? If you hate it, they may hate you too.

In the alternative, I suggest speaking to an attorney licensed in your jurisdcition with a knowledge of employment law. Without being able to read the contract in its entirety it’s difficult to advise you (and I wouldn’t anyway since I’m not a lawyer).

3

Thanks, Otto. As soon as I hit “submit,” (as in Submit! To Satan’s New World Order! Bow Down to the Beast! Or, Lo, Thou Shalt Be Cursed, Even Unto The End of Time!) I realized that talking to my boss about getting out of the contract was really the only sensible solution.

4

Disclaimer: I am not offering you legal advice. I don’t know all the relevant facts about your situation, and I don’t even know where you are, and I may not be licensed to practice law in your jurisdiction. For a full analysis of your legal rights, you should speak to an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction. I’m not your lawyer. You’re not my client.

Having said that, let me respond as a former grad student in a PhD program.

First of all, you are not an indentured servant, and the department cannot legally force you to keep working there. I don’t mean to sound dramatic, but the 13th amendment bans involuntary servitude. Based on the language of the contract that you quoted in your post, the purpose of that clause is not to keep you there against your will, but to require that you inform your supervisor if you get an additional job.

BUT, the issue here is not the respective legal rights of the parties. The issue is your academic career, and the short and long term bad effects of pissing people off by leaving them in the lurch.

I think you have the right idea about going and talking to your boss. BUT FIRST, I would talk with a mentor in your department. Maybe a more senior grad student. Maybe a faculty member that you trust. Just tell them the situation and ask them how to handle it.

When you talk to your boss, focus on (1) how you have found this great teaching position that will be great for your academic career, and (2) how you don’t want to leave him in the lurch, but you need to work out a solution that will allow you to take this teaching position. Be friendly, be cordial, be polite. BUT also realize that no body is doing you a favor by “letting you out” of a contract. So stand firm.

As to the department not paying the last month, I would not stand for that nonsense. I ran into a similar situation myself: “oh by the way, since you were honest with us and told us you were going to enroll in law school in the fall, we just cut off your funding without telling you.” BTW I found out that they had cut off my stipend (which was on direct deposit) only AFTER my rent check bounced. If anybody tries to pull that, well, just be very clear that you did the work and you will be paid for it.