Employee Law Tidbit: On Entering Into "Agreements" at Work

By agreements, I mean agreeing with your employer to stay with the company for a specified period of time in exchange for a sum of money or training, or both. 

The thing is, employment is generally at-will in the United States. Sure there are a few exceptions, high powered CEO's and teachers, but most of us can be fired at any time. Yep, that is right. You can be fired at any time.  But, you can also leave at any time. It's a two way street, and two weeks notice is not required. 

But employers, they try to get around this and retain specialty talent in ways that benefit them.  One way is the "agreement".  It is a contract, but the employer doesn't want to really call it that because they want to still be able to fire you.  Most likely, if you are a "professional" who has received some educational benefit from your employee, be it paid business school or bar review classes like me, or even just a signing bonus, you know that if you leave your employer within a specified period of time, you will be paying your employer back. 

So what should you do if you hate your job and you have entered into such an "agreement"? 

1. Get all the benefit you can. Every employer has perks that you should take advantage of, and if you have received paid tuition or training you know all about these. Make the most out of your "indentured" time.  

2. Build your resume. If you have a year to kill (and hopefully the honeymoon lasted longer than this), start thinking of ways you can make your resume shine, or people who you can use as references, and get busy  building those relationships. But be careful. I know someone who picked a reference, and it backfired. He was at her current job and he didn't want her to leave. So remember where you are, and tread the reference area carefully.

3. If you must leave, be very honest with your new employer, and discuss the situation carefully with your old employer. The last thing you want is a lawsuit, so you should plan carefully to be sure that you don't burn any bridges, or get involved in a sticky situation.  If your employer has invested significant time and energy in your training, use that as leverage to improve your working conditions and bid out the time before you make your transition to new employment. 

Generally, these agreements shouldn't last longer than a year. But a year is a long time to be somewhere you hate. If you unfortunately enter into an "agreement" to work at a place that resembles hell, make the most of it.  Use whatever you can to make your job more useful, tolerable, or even informative, and plan your next move carefully. You've got time.