Can i leave my job because ...... ??

[Dajstar]

My firm has paid for me to pass a course they put me on , i have signed no contract to tie me in for any period of time or anything like that , is there anything legally they can do to stop me ??

Many thanks in advance

[Andy_G]

There is no legal way they can make you stay.

I work for a large construction company and they are very big on internal training, i.e. sending staff to university/college.

For many years there was a contact that had to be signed tying staff into the company for 4 years (after finishing). A few years ago it was reported that this contact was invalid and you couldn't be forced to sign it or stay.

The main reason for this was that company's (like mine) were sending you to uni & having staff as cheap labour not giving them a good pay rise until their 4 years was up.

This is my second year at uni now (part time) and even though I would feel bad about leaving after I finish there is no way they can stop me. I've signed no contract, even if I did it wouldn't be legal anyway.

I have said that I will stay for at least 1 year and depending on salary & promotion I may stay longer. This is only because I like working here.

hope this helps.

[Dajstar]

Yes , thanks a lot , i sort of suspected they could not do anything as someone else has said that , but not sure , so thanks for that .

[antiguru]

It�s unusual to find a training contract that insists you stay, but not unusual to find one that says you must repay the cost of the course if you go within an agreed period of time.

However, even if your employer has such a policy in place, if they did not draw it to your attention before you agreed to do the course (which usually takes the form of getting you to sign a copy to say your saw it) there is nothing they could legally do about it at this stage. Have a discreet look through your staff handbook or publicly available employment policies and see if there is anything about this in there. If not, resign and challenge them if they try it on.