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Reimbursement of training investment
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Reimbursement of training investment
Discuss employment-law issues such as family leave, overtime, disabilities law, harassment, immigration and termination.
In the event of an employee promotion can a company request the employee to sign a letter agreeing to reimburse the company for all training costs if the employee voluntarily leaves the company within
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Forums » Topic Forums » Legal Forum » Reimbursement of training investment
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Reimbursement of training investment
posted at 6/15/1999 5:32 AM EDT
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Posts: 15
First: 6/15/1999 Last: 7/1/2003 |
In the event of an employee promotion can a company request the employee to sign a letter agreeing to reimburse the company for all training costs if the employee voluntarily leaves the company within 1 year? Assuming the company will incur training cost (by 3rd parties) to provide training/certification for the promoted employee (position is a HR Director). If yes, couldn't this be interpreted as a contract? Is this common business practice? Also, can the employee, in turn, request for guaranteed salary during the 1 year term? (Residing state is at-will) |
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Reimbursement of training investment
posted at 6/15/1999 6:49 AM EDT
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Posts: 45
First: 6/15/1999 Last: 6/28/2006 |
I have seen employers do this frequently and the answer seems to be yes. (To your first question.) So long as the agreement is not trying to take back something that the employee has "earned," these contracts are usually enforced (at least here in Mass.). As to your second question (re: a guaranteed salary), an employee can ASK for anything they want. Getting it depends solely on how much the company wants the person... |
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Reimbursement of training investment
posted at 6/15/1999 5:50 PM EDT
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Posts: 38
First: 6/9/1999 Last: 10/26/2004 |
EB&G Responds -- Wherein We Offer the "Tip of the Day"
Posted by MMiklave on 6/16/99 4:32 AM GMT Well, this is a pretty common issue, from a couple of different points of view. First, under many state wage and hour laws, an employer may be obligated to pay employees for any training which the employer requires them to attend. This clearly means that the employer must pay the employee to attend required training (under almost all state laws and the FLSA) and that the employer sometimes has to pay the costs for the training course. Second, if the training is not "required," some employers seek to require reimbursement of the costs of training if the employee terminates within acertain period of time. How does one go about collecting this debt? Under many state wage and hour laws an employer may NOT withhold money from an employee's paycheck without written authorization and in some state's an employer may not withhold pay from an employee's paycheck even WITH an authorization. Thus, without the authorization, an employer may be required to file a lawsuit against the employee to collect. Once an employer has a favorable judgment, then the employer has got to try to collect the judgment! Third, some of those in my field are strong advocates of alternative dispute resolution procedures (such as binding arbitration) and urge that employers routinely enter into ADR agreements. This is the source of great controversy today, so employers must be careful in how they design an ADR program. However, it can be done and such programs can be successful. So what does this mean. Well, some employers might find it worth their while to enter into employment agreements with their employees. The agreement would specify the term of employment and the circumstances under which the employee or employer could terminate the employment relationship. There is no reason why such agreements could not say either side has the right to terminate the employment relationship at any time, for any reason, and the employment relationship is "at will." The agreement could include provisions requiring severance if the discharge is without cause (that is a benefit), provide that the employee must return all property, provide that the employee reimburse for training and authorize the employer to deduct the costs of training from the severance or final paycheck (check state law to make sure you can do this), and provide that all disputes will be resolved by way of binding arbitration. How does that sound? Let me hear from you! |
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