V
venkyv
Guest
This is with reference to my last job in California as Director - Business Development for an Internet service provider company.
I relocated from CT in August last year and my employer agreed to pay for my relocation expenses and also the costs involved in completing my EMBA program at UConn (which I was halfway through).
Due to deteriorating business conditions, my employer, suddenly in April, deducted from my paycheck a large chunk of money for the days I was away in CT for my EMBA program (starting from August of last year) deeming them to be "negative vacation" days.
When I protested there was no provision in my contract to make such a deduction, I was laid off on June 1 (stating in writing that my position had been eliminated due to "poor business conditions") after which my ex-employer has been demanding (most recently through a collection agency) that I return the Relocation and Education expenses already reimbursed to me (checks signed by the President himself over the period of almost 9 months against expense reports presented by me) since I did not complete the required 1 year of employment that I was supposed to complete (having been laid off after 10 months) - the contract drawn up by the employer does not explicitly spell out what happens if I got laid off within one year.
Are my employer's demands for returning money for expenses already already incurred and reimbursed legitimate? If not, what can I do to end harrassment by the collection agency?
I relocated from CT in August last year and my employer agreed to pay for my relocation expenses and also the costs involved in completing my EMBA program at UConn (which I was halfway through).
Due to deteriorating business conditions, my employer, suddenly in April, deducted from my paycheck a large chunk of money for the days I was away in CT for my EMBA program (starting from August of last year) deeming them to be "negative vacation" days.
When I protested there was no provision in my contract to make such a deduction, I was laid off on June 1 (stating in writing that my position had been eliminated due to "poor business conditions") after which my ex-employer has been demanding (most recently through a collection agency) that I return the Relocation and Education expenses already reimbursed to me (checks signed by the President himself over the period of almost 9 months against expense reports presented by me) since I did not complete the required 1 year of employment that I was supposed to complete (having been laid off after 10 months) - the contract drawn up by the employer does not explicitly spell out what happens if I got laid off within one year.
Are my employer's demands for returning money for expenses already already incurred and reimbursed legitimate? If not, what can I do to end harrassment by the collection agency?