The NNA Notary Hotline takes calls from Notaries across the country every day asking about tricky and difficult notarization situations. To boost your knowledge of Notary standards of practice, the NNA presents a situation based on a real-life Notary case and asks the question: What would you do?
Imagine you’re a Notary getting ready to leave your current place of employment. As you are taking care of the final details of your departure, your boss calls you into his office.
“You’ve worked for us as a Notary, but since you are leaving, you need to turn over your journal, Notary seal and bond to us,” your boss tells you. “We paid for you to become a Notary, so those items belong to us by rights. If you won’t do it, we’re not going to provide you with your final paycheck.”
What would you do?
Do you think the employer has the right to demand your tools if someone else paid for you to become a Notary? What do you think about the employer threatening to withhold a paycheck if the tools aren’t turned over to him? How would you handle this situation?
Share your answers in the comments section below. We may mention your response in an upcoming July 2024 Bulletin article when we offer the recommended solution to this difficult Notary situation.
David Thun is the Editorial Manager at the National Notary Association.