Q. Under the Fair Dismissal Act, employees who worked 36 months would gain nonprobationary status, even if that time was not served consecutively. Will the Students First Act work the same way? If you gain nonprobationary status and then resign, will you retain that status if you’re subsequently rehired or will you have to start over as a probationary employee?

A.  Proposed Answer: 

No, the Students First Act does not work the same way and the employee would have to regain nonprobationary status. This concept is akin to the way tenured teachers who resigned were treated under the Teacher Tenure Act. See Kilgore v. Jasper City Bd. of Educ., 624 So.2d 603, 605 (Ala.Civ.App. 1993)(tenured teacher who resigned and was subsequently rehired relinquished tenure rights upon board’s acceptance of resignation). Any employee who resigns relinquishes his nonprobationary status. If the employee is rehired, he will be treated as any other new employee and will have to re-earn nonprobationary status under the Students First Act.