Tuition Reimbursement

[Brenlou69]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA/IL

I work in PA in a remote office for a company in IL. We have tuition reimbursement that states (in our handbook) tuition will be paid if the employee maintains a C average and is employed at the end of the class.

- I have my letter to confirm payment would be made upon enrolling and the payment amount from the company.
- I turned my grades and request for reimbursement in on 6/30/11.
- I gave notice of my terminating my employment on 7/5 with my final day being 7/22/11.


I was told today that they will not pay my fees because I am leaving the company and it is of no benefit to them. The HR Administrator said they can change policies without notice and have done so in this case. Do I have any recourse?

Thanks!

 

[eerelations]

The HR Administrator is correct and therefore you don't have any legal recourse.

 

[cbg]

It really depends on the wording of the tuition reimbursement agreement, but only a lawyer in your state who has read the agreement in full can say if you can force the employer to adhere to it.

Suffice it to say that there is nothing in the law that prohibits the employer from taking the stand they have taken.

 

[Beth3]

Your employer's tuition reimbursement plan is a completely voluntary benefit on their part. Yes, they can change the particulars of the plan any time they feel like it or cancel it entirely.

If you want to know whether the tuition agreement you signed constitutes a legally enforceable document, you'll need to show it to an attorney. You may want to save yourself the legal expense though. $20 says the employee handbook has several disclaimers in it stating that the policies therein do not create a contract and the employer reserves the right to make changes to their policies anytime they wish to.

 

[CSO286]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA/IL

I work in PA in a remote office for a company in IL. We have tuition reimbursement that states (in our handbook) tuition will be paid if the employee maintains a C average and is employed at the end of the class.

- I have my letter to confirm payment would be made upon enrolling and the payment amount from the company.
- I turned my grades and request for reimbursement in on 6/30/11.
- I gave notice of my terminating my employment on 7/5 with my final day being 7/22/11.


I was told today that they will not pay my fees because I am leaving the company and it is of no benefit to them. The HR Administrator said they can change policies without notice and have done so in this case. Do I have any recourse?

Thanks!

Should have waited til they paid your tuition before turning in your notice.

Most of these tuition reimbursement programs have some type of language requiring the student to work for the employer for a certain amt of time (6 months-2 years on average).

Why should the employer pay for an education that doesn't benefit them in some way?

 

[swalsh411]

I wouldn't be so dismissive. I agree that the employer can make changes to a voluntary benefit but here they are doing it retroactively after they have already promised payment to the employee. OP makes no mention of any requirement to work for that employer for any given period of time after the class is over. The only requirement the OP mentions is that you must be employed at the end of the class, which he was.

The OP kept his end of the bargain. Why should the employer be allowed to change the arrangment unlaterally after the OP has already taken (and paid for) the class?

Sounds like a classic case of promissory estopple to me.

 

[CSO286]

So I guess the magic question is---What does the policy state in regard to the tuition reimbursement?

What did OP have to sign in order to qualify? Did it indicate any kind of terms? What were they?


Ok, so that's like, four magic questions.

 

[cbg]

Which is to all intents and purposes what I said several hours ago....

 

[CSO286]

Which is to all intents and purposes what I said several hours ago....

*sigh*


@cbg---*Flowers*