Education Reimbursement

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Georgia

I recently moved from Florida to Georgia. I tried to get a transfer with my company but did not get a position even though I had worked there for 6 years. I just received notification that the company took $5368 out of my bank account for repayment of tuition reimbursement because I did not stay working there for 2 years after I received the education money. My question is, since I applied for positions and did not resign from the company, do they have the right to take the money from me without any notification? Is there any chance of me getting the money back since I was not given a fair chance to transfer?

Only someone who has read the agreement you signed, can answer your question. The EXACT wording of the FULL document will determine whether the agreement is enforceable.

However, you should be aware that attempting to transfer is unlikely to release you from the agreement's terms, unless the agreement is found to be unenforceable to begin with.

So, your advice is to get a copy of the signed agreement when I received the reimbursement? I understand that company's have rules but they should also have some consideration as well. I had no intentions of leaving my job but when my husband received a promotion and his company paid for our move, then things changed. I didn't think I would have had a problem obtaining a position with my company since I had been there for almost 6 years and had always received satisfactory reviews. Then to find out that the company took the money from my bank account without any notification made me feel very mistreated especially since I was willing to stay working for the company but was not given a fair chance.

My advice is to show a copy of the agreement to a local attorney. The law does not say, if you try to transfer you don't have to abide by an education agreement; nor does it say, your agreement is automatically void if your husband transfers out of state.

This is a contractual agreement, not a legal one. If you do not have a copy of the agreement (and why not?) then yes, you will have to get one.

I'd also contact the bank to find out how it is that a third party (i.e. your employer) could just "withdraw" money from your account without your authorization. Unless of course you signed something authorizing this back when you accepted the tuition monies.

My question is, since I applied for positions and did not resign from the company, do they have the right to take the money from me without any notification? When you moved from Florida to Georgia, I imagine you stopped showing up at your job in Florida. Since no other position with the company was in the offing, they certainly have every reason to decide your employment was at an end.

Is there any chance of me getting the money back since I was not given a fair chance to transfer? As cbg said, it depends entirely on the wording of the contract but I rather doubt it says that you don't have to repay the money if you decide you weren't given a fair chance to transfer if you elect to relocate.

I know I have a copy of the education agreement, but the question is in which box is it. Since I just moved a few months ago I haven't unpacked all the boxes, only the necessary ones. To answer the question about how the bank allowed the auto debit, I worked for the bank so I guess they feel that they can do whatever they want.

To answer the question about how the bank allowed the auto debit, I worked for the bank so I guess they feel that they can do whatever they want. I've never worked in the banking industry but I'd be surprised that they had any more rights to access someone's personal account and withdraw money than anyone else would - which is not at all.

You might want to contact FL's banking regulatory agency and discuss this.

As you can tell I'm upset about them taking the money, but I'm also upset that I wasn't able to get a job during the transfer. I applied for several positions that I was more than qualified for and had been doing for almost 6 years, but I was never interviewed or anything in GA. Not only have I lost wages by not working for the past 5 months, now the bank has stripped me of another $5000. Since I didn't secure a position within 30 days, the bank terminated my job and now they are taking money away from me for educational reimbursement. To me this is unfair because they never notified me about the money and it actually never crossed my mind b/c I was more worried about getting a job. Thanks for the advice on checking FL banking regulations. I will do that as well as look for my reimbursement agreement.