Question:
I am currently working and have been begging my company to send me to a training course. They have resisted until now and said they would send me to the training course if I could find some sort of an example of an agreement that says I will stay there for a year if they send me to the course. Do you know where I can find an example?
First Answer:
Your best source for a sample agreement would be a colleague or friend who has signed such an agreement, because they are usually written by the corporate counsel of the employer. Such agreements are often written in order to assure that a new employee who has relocated at company expense will reimburse the employer if he or she leaves before the first anniversary of the move, but are sometimes written for training costs or tuition.
The fact that your employer has asked you for an example suggests that the company does not normally pay for training, or that they think you are at risk of defection. If the idea of paying for training is new to them, they may be looking for precedents, examples that other firms require reimbursement if you leave within a certain time, rather than sample documents. Precedents may be easier to find, by surveying local employers, especially large companies that are more likely to invest in training and development.
A sample agreement would be tailored to conform to the laws of a given state, so it would be difficult to provide a sample that was appropriate and valid for all states. For example, if you leave and fail to repay, does your state permit the employer to deduct the amount from your last paycheck? So counsel familiar with labor law should write this agreement, and that would be the employer's lawyer. Then both you and the firm will know what you've agreed to.
If your employer ultimately decides not to pay for the training, in this economy, you may want to seek a more progressive employer who doesn't require persuasion that training and development are in everyone's best interest.
-- Carol Anderson, Career Development and Placement Office, Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy at New School University in New York City
Second Answer:
The school were I work at has an employee tuition reimbursement plan.
Instead of working for them for one year, we must work for four years. If
an employee leaves before that time, then the amount of money spent by the
school on his or her education is prorated and the employee pays the school
back for the prorated portion. There is no formal agreement that we sign.
The tuition reimbursement policy is printed in the employee handbook and on
the application we have to fill out to get the funds.
I am not sure that you will be able to find a generic contract like you
need already made up. I would suggest that you talk to people you know
outside your company to find out if their companies have education
reimbursement. If the answer is yes, ask them if they could get you a copy
of the contract and policy. (I would probably try to get two or three
different ones.) From the information I got from those documents, I would
put together my own contract -- being sure to include everything you and
your employer have talked about regarding this subject.
You could then take the contract to your employer and explain the process
you went through.
-- Linda Wyatt, Career Center, Kansas City Kansas Community College
