Patta Hara and other supporters of the "bond theory"....
As much as I wish that you were right, I hate to say that your statements couldn\'t be farther from the truth.
First, it is not a "bond", but simply an agreement between you and the company, that you will be liable for GC costs, should you decide to leave within the stipulated period of time. The company is well within its rights to require such an agreement. This isn\'t any different from other agreements that many of us sign - tuition reimbursement, sign-on bonuses, relocation reimbursements, etc., that require us to stay with the employer for a stipulated amount of time. Neither of these is a pre-condition for initiating employment nor are we required to accept them to continue the employment. If you don\'t like them, continue with the same employer without entering the agreement or simply leave the job.
Secondly, don\'t confuse "Employment At-Will" with an agreement. Your signing of the agreement neither precludes you from leaving the employer, nor stops your employer from firing you. The employment is still at-will. In fact, most agreements take the trouble to point out that the stipulated time in the agreement does not imply guaranteed employment, it is still “at-will”.
Thirdly, the link in message #6 titled "little something of the same…" simply states that the employer is obliged to pay all the earned wages, a fact that does not preclude the employer from demanding a reimbursement.
Finally, as many posters have noted, if these agreements (GC costs, sign-on bonus, relocation bonus, etc.) violated any US employment laws, the employers would know better not to require them. In most cases, employers chose not to pursue the case as a matter of choice, and not because of any risk of violating labor laws.
For the record, I have signed a similar agreement, and my company requires us to work for two years after the gc approval.
Amen.
As much as I wish that you were right, I hate to say that your statements couldn\'t be farther from the truth.
First, it is not a "bond", but simply an agreement between you and the company, that you will be liable for GC costs, should you decide to leave within the stipulated period of time. The company is well within its rights to require such an agreement. This isn\'t any different from other agreements that many of us sign - tuition reimbursement, sign-on bonuses, relocation reimbursements, etc., that require us to stay with the employer for a stipulated amount of time. Neither of these is a pre-condition for initiating employment nor are we required to accept them to continue the employment. If you don\'t like them, continue with the same employer without entering the agreement or simply leave the job.
Secondly, don\'t confuse "Employment At-Will" with an agreement. Your signing of the agreement neither precludes you from leaving the employer, nor stops your employer from firing you. The employment is still at-will. In fact, most agreements take the trouble to point out that the stipulated time in the agreement does not imply guaranteed employment, it is still “at-will”.
Thirdly, the link in message #6 titled "little something of the same…" simply states that the employer is obliged to pay all the earned wages, a fact that does not preclude the employer from demanding a reimbursement.
Finally, as many posters have noted, if these agreements (GC costs, sign-on bonus, relocation bonus, etc.) violated any US employment laws, the employers would know better not to require them. In most cases, employers chose not to pursue the case as a matter of choice, and not because of any risk of violating labor laws.
For the record, I have signed a similar agreement, and my company requires us to work for two years after the gc approval.
Amen.