Hi,

I currently work for a company that offers tuition reimbursement.  I
am looking for another job; however, was informed by someone that I
would have to pay back any tuition reimbursement I received within the
last year.  This would be about $8,000, so I dont want to leave the
company if I have to pay this back.  My question is, would I have to
pay the money back if I never signed anything saying that is the
policy?  All the forms I filled out for tuition reimbursement never
mentioned you would have to pay it back if you left. Here is their
exact wording on this matter and again it is just on a website and was
not on the forms:

"Employees who leave the company will be required to repay the company
for all Educational Assistance expenses paid to them for the 12-month
period prior to their last day of work with the company."

By this would it also mean you wouldnt have to pay if you were fired? 
Please help and thanks in advance for your help!

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Request for Question Clarification by missy-ga on 17 Apr 2003 22:03 PDT

What is the company?

We really can't interpret the policy of an unknown company, but if you
tell us who it is, we could contact them and ask.

--Missy

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Clarification of Question by jkrech17-ga on 18 Apr 2003 05:31 PDT

I currently work for AOL.  The job I am looking to obtain is about two
hours away and I could save on a lot of living costs by living with my
brother.  I like working for AOL; however, there is no positions to
transfer to within the area I would like to move. What do you think?

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Request for Question Clarification by chellphill-ga on 18 Apr 2003 06:01 PDT

Hi jkrech17-ga,
I Need a little bit more info from you regarding your question.
The person that informed you of this policy, was it someone in HR, a
co-worker or a manager above you?
The quote from their website, was that from the ESS area, or kw HR?
Even though you didn't sign anything that states anything about
reimbursement, did you happen to click on anything online (like an
electronic signature)? I know that is something they use. Have you
read your employment contract to see if they put anything in it
pertaining to reimbursement? I know they seem to add new things to it
every time they update it.
As for the tuition assistance you recieved from them, was this for
college courses, or was this the reimbursement for the IT
certifications?
Also, which group are you a part of, member services or IC? 
As soon as you are able to, let me know, that way I know who I need to
talk to find out the information for you.
Thanks!
chellphill-ga

Greetings, jkrech17!

While they probably *could* insist that terminated employees repay
such education assistance, it is my impression that companies
generally do not do so. Forced termination is a touchy process, and
companies will often take a number of steps to reduce the likelihood
that the terminated employee will file a lawsuit, including paying out
unused vacation, and not requiring repayment of education assistance
which was received prior to the termination.

However, a departure voluntarily instigated by the employee is another
matter. Many companies have instituted such education assistance
repayment rules to prevent employees from improving their job skills
at the expense of the employer, then leaving before the company has
the chance to benefit from their investment.

At my most recent two employers, my employment agreement has
stipulated that I was bound by the company's "policies, procedures and
guidelines". Since this is so loosely defined, it could legally be
construed to include everything in the "Policies and Procedures"
handbook and rules issued in company memos, as well as all the
information located on the company's Employee Intranet.

I am not a lawyer, but in my opinion you would not win a legal battle
on this one. On the other hand, your employer might not be willing to
take legal action because the expense in lost productivity of the
employees who would have to be involved, as well as attorney fees,
would be more than the $8,000 you owe them.

However, you can be sure that they will retain the entire value of
your last paycheck -- as well as that of any unused vacation and sick
time that they would normally "cash out" -- up to and including the
value of the repayment that you owe them.

Regards,

aceresearcher