Laid Off Tuition Reimbursement question

[Mathman34]

Hello, I am a New Hampshire resident recently laid off from a small engineering company. During my time there I was given tuition reimbursement for graduate school. The company would pay half up front and then half at the end of the semester. Since they were paying for a portion of my classes they wanted me to do my thesis/capstone project for them. The university I attend explained to them it would be about 10k for me to do my thesis for a private company (rights to the work, tech supplies, etc). The president of the company, my supervisor, my thesis advisor and I all met to discuss the scope of the work. I started the thesis work this past semester and it was going to be a two semester project. The funds were to be paid half up front and half at the end beginning this summer. Everything was going fine and on May 3rd I submitted my grades.

May 11th I went into work and was laid off. They offered a severance package which I have not signed the agreement letter for since because of this tuition reimbursement and project question. Basically I have done a semesters worth of work that I can no longer use. I also had signed a non-disclosure agreement when I started working there saying I would not go work for a similar company soon after working there. If I continue on with my project it is a violation of the non-disclosure since it is a very limited scientific field. Now I have to switch to a completely different project which I don't mind doing, I just want the class paid for. Do I have any rights here for at least the tuition reimbursement or am I stuck?

 

[Hot Topic]

Hello, I am a New Hampshire resident recently laid off from a small engineering company. During my time there I was given tuition reimbursement for graduate school. The company would pay half up front and then half at the end of the semester. Since they were paying for a portion of my classes they wanted me to do my thesis/capstone project for them. The university I attend explained to them it would be about 10k for me to do my thesis for a private company (rights to the work, tech supplies, etc). The president of the company, my supervisor, my thesis advisor and I all met to discuss the scope of the work. I started the thesis work this past semester and it was going to be a two semester project. The funds were to be paid half up front and half at the end beginning this summer. Everything was going fine and on May 3rd I submitted my grades.

May 11th I went into work and was laid off. They offered a severance package which I have not signed the agreement letter for since because of this tuition reimbursement and project question. Basically I have done a semesters worth of work that I can no longer use. I also had signed a non-disclosure agreement when I started working there saying I would not go work for a similar company soon after working there. If I continue on with my project it is a violation of the non-disclosure since it is a very limited scientific field. Now I have to switch to a completely different project which I don't mind doing, I just want the class paid for. Do I have any rights here for at least the tuition reimbursement or am I stuck?

Is there anything in writing about the tuition being reimbursed should the company lay you off?

 

[swalsh411]

Basically I have done a semesters worth of work that I can no longer use.

That's not true. You could pay for your education yourself or take out a loan like most people have to do.

The non-compete may or may not be binding. Generally speaking they cannot prevent you from making a living in your chosen field so long as you do not disclose proprietary information like trade secrets and customer lists. This is especially true since you were laid off. You may want to take the non-compete to a local attorney to see if it is legally binding, or if you have a job offer have a lawyer from potential new employer look at it. It would be a mistake to just assume you cannot work for a company in the same field even if that is what your soon-to-be-ex employer is telling you.

Also, file for unemployment if you have not done so already.

 

[Mathman34]

Is there anything in writing about the tuition being reimbursed should the company lay you off?

Not that I know of, but the semester ended and my grades were submitted before I was laid off. They had given me half the funds at the beginning of the semester and the second half is based on merit, full amount for A's, 1/2 for B's 1/3 for C's. I got A's....

 

[Mathman34]

That's not true. You could pay for your education yourself or take out a loan like most people have to do.

My classes are almost 4k per semester. I do take out a loan and pay for it up front like most people have to do. The company was only paying 3.5k per semester and I was taking 2 classes. Thank you for being so condescending.

Also, file for unemployment if you have not done so already.

In NH, Division of Workforce security explicitly tells you to not apply for unemployment until your severance ends. As far as not allowing me to work in my field, my thesis was building a modeling package for a product my old employer makes. They are one of 3 places in the US that perform this service. The non-compete specifically says I will not go work for a similar company within 5 years of leaving them.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

The non-compete specifically says I will not go work for a similar company within 5 years of leaving them.

Take your non-compete to an attorney to see if s/he feels it is enforceable. Five years seems like a long time to prevent you from working, particularly after being laid off. It's one thing to jump ship to go work for a competitor, but it's another thing entirely for them to put you out of work and prevent you from earning a living.

You could complete your thesis, build the modeling package, and sell it to your former employer. You will still have your degree, even if you can't market the modeling package.

Since you are not receiving severance, go apply for unemployment, and explain that you may, in the future, receive severance but presently you are not.

 

[swalsh411]

Volunteers are allowed to be condescending, however in your case I was not. I was simply pointing out that there are other ways to pay for education.

You seem to be under the mistaken impression that just because you agreed to something that means you are bound by it. That is not always the case. Non-competes are one area where Courts have historically favored the rights of the employee to make a living. Having skilled labor idle because their former employer says they cannot work is not in society’s best interest. 5 years is almost certainly too long to limit your employment even if that a condition of receiving severance.

 

[Mathman34]

Non-competes are one area where Courts have historically favored the rights of the employee to make a living. Having skilled labor idle because their former employer says they cannot work is not in society’s best interest. 5 years is almost certainly too long to limit your employment even if that a condition of receiving severance.

Thank you, this is pretty much the answer I was seeking.

As far as the condescending comment goes, I apologize. The written word does not always come across like the spoken version.

Thank you all again for your replies and advice.

 

[commentator]

My classes are almost 4k per semester. I do take out a loan and pay for it up front like most people have to do. The company was only paying 3.5k per semester and I was taking 2 classes. Thank you for being so condescending.


In NH, Division of Workforce security explicitly tells you to not apply for unemployment until your severance ends. As far as not allowing me to work in my field, my thesis was building a modeling package for a product my old employer makes. They are one of 3 places in the US that perform this service. The non-compete specifically says I will not go work for a similar company within 5 years of leaving them.

I found your assertion that you are explicitly told not to apply for unemployment insurance until severance ends rather interesting, since in most of the policy, people are told that they may file an unemployment insurance claim anytime, including while they were still working. Usually it is a good idea to file the unemployment claim and get it set up at once, especially in a situation like this where severance is questionable or has not been spelled out or you are not sure when it will start or even if you will get it. I could find nothing anywhere in the NH regs that backs up your assertion that you are explicitly told not to apply for unemployment insurance until your severance ends. In fact, their information that I found encourages you to consider whether if you are going to receive a long term severance, spread out over several weeks or months, that you might be better off based on quarters of wages, to file the claim immediately to set up using your best base period wages (though, of course you are not going to be able to begin drawing your benefits)

 

[Mathman34]

I could find nothing anywhere in the NH regs that backs up your assertion that you are explicitly told not to apply for unemployment insurance until your severance ends.

Clearly your research methods are far more advanced than mine...
Copy and Pasted from the NHES website:
If you receive separation pay such as severance for a period of more than 30 days after your last physical day of employment, you may want to review the Amount & Duration of Benefits information provided from the link under Menu Options to determine the best time to open your claim. It may be to your advantage to open your claim immediately, or to wait and open your claim after your separation pay has been exhausted. View detailed information about the potential amount and duration of unemployment benefits, including an opportunity to look at optional scenarios for your personal situation using the link to Amount & Duration of Benefits.

But since it appears that you already know everything anyhow......

Perhaps mathematics is not your forte but a quick calculation on Amount & Duration along with amount of severance brought me to that conclusion. Hopefully you're not as quick to doubt paying clients as much as people on here asking for help. Your accountant must be a patient individual.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

Clearly your research methods are far more advanced than mine...
Copy and Pasted from the NHES website:
If you receive separation pay such as severance for a period of more than 30 days after your last physical day of employment, you may want to review the Amount & Duration of Benefits information provided from the link under Menu Options to determine the best time to open your claim. It may be to your advantage to open your claim immediately, or to wait and open your claim after your separation pay has been exhausted. View detailed information about the potential amount and duration of unemployment benefits, including an opportunity to look at optional scenarios for your personal situation using the link to Amount & Duration of Benefits.


Perhaps mathematics is not your forte but a quick calculation on Amount & Duration along with amount of severance brought me to that conclusion. Hopefully you're not as quick to doubt paying clients as much as people on here asking for help. Your accountant must be a patient individual.

You may find that you are eligible to receive your UI from the first day/week that you are fully unemployed. Severance pay is being paid for NOT working.

 

[swalsh411]

You can always file for benefits as soon as you are termed. You just won't be able to claim them until your severance runs out.

 

[commentator]

What the little blurb that our mathman quoted to me said is that you may want to calculate whether you will or will not be in a better quarter arrangement now or later, you can always file now or you can file later. Once you file now, you will not be able to refile again for a whole year, even if it turns out that your claim would be better if you waited for the quarters to change. Nowhere does it explicitly state that you may not file for unemployment until you have drawn out your severance. You cannot receive both at the same time, but filing a claim is not forbidden. If a person were to receive, say six months of paid severance, and did not file until six months had passed and he then filed a claim, depending on how long he had worked for this employer, how many covered quarters he had in the base period, he might actually lose a quarter at least of benefits. If he waited until a year had passed, he'd probably be ineligible for a claim all together.

The best thing to do is usually to file immediately for benefits and report the severance to the department, let them decide at what point you can start drawing benefits. The claim is in place for a year, at the fixed amount established when filed, regardless of how much severance you receive or don't receive.

Few are brilliant enough to calculate their benefits accurately without some assistance from the system, especially when they are not exactly clear about amount and duration of severance they'll be receiving or whether they'll be receiving it at all. But you said "....explicitly tells you not to apply for unemployment benefits until your severance ends" or something to that effect, and that just isn't so. Filing for benefits right away is frequently a very good option.

 

[Betty]

Re NH non competes -
Non compete agreements will be enforced if they are reasonable under all circumstances. A determination of what constitutes "reasonableness" generally requires an analysis of whether the non compete (1) protects the legitimate interests of the employer, (2) imposes an undue hardship on the employee, and (3) is injurious to the public.

As suggested previously, you do need to take the non compete to an employment or contract attorney in your area for review of the complete agreement & his/her opinion. The attorney should have a good idea of what the courts in the area consider to be reasonable.