A Capehart Scatchard Blog

Appellate Division Addresses Rights of Part-Time Teachers Under Tenure Act

Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq.

Educational service commissions sometimes employ part-time teachers to work in public and non-public schools. The Sussex County Educational Services Commission (“Commission”) reduced the number of hours worked by part-time teachers but did not alter the hourly rate of pay. In Zimmerman et al. v. Sussex County Educational Services Commission two teachers challenged the action arguing that their tenure and seniority rights were violated. The Commissioner of Education (“Commissioner”) sided with the Commission by determining that the decrease in work hours did not reduce the teachers’ compensation or trigger their seniority rights under the New Jersey Tenure Act because the hourly rates did not decrease. The teachers appealed.

The Appellate Division, in a published decision issued on February 13, 2018, reversed the Commissioner’s decision. In doing so, the Appellate Division explained that the Commissioner’s focus on the absence of a reduction in hourly rates and the lack of a minimum number of guaranteed hours in the contract documents was misplaced. The Appellate Division emphasized that the touchstone is the Tenure Act and explained that part-time teachers are eligible for tenure if they meet the requirements for acquisition of tenure under the Act.

However, two significant questions remain, namely (1) whether the reduction in hours reduced the teachers’ compensation under N.J.S.A. 18A:28-5, and (2) whether the reduction in hours triggered seniority rights. The Court remanded the matter for further proceedings in accordance with its instructions on how to calculate compensation in a situation where work hours fluctuate from year to year based upon service needs.

This is a case to watch because the ultimate disposition could have an impact beyond educational service commissions.

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Established in 1876, Capehart Scatchard is a diversified general practice law firm of over 90 attorneys practicing in more than a dozen major areas of law including alternative energy, banking & finance, business & tax, business succession, cannabis, creditors’ rights, healthcare, labor & employment, litigation, non-profit organizations, real estate & land use, school law, wills, trusts & estates and workers’ compensation defense.

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