employment contracts.........sign or not

[trouper]

Hello, I read the topics all of the time but have never posted......so here is my first.
My job wants me to obtain certification(so do I)MCSE etc.. they want me to sign a 3 yr contract though. The problem is I feelthat I am currently underpaid for my position. Has anyone ever signed a contract or do you have something I can look at for reference...
any ideas???????????
thanks, Trouper

[SithLord075]

What kind of contract is it? And what are your obligations to the contract for three years? Is this a temp contract, or are you employed full-time?

[Steve R Jones]

I'm betting they want you to sign a contract that states that they will pay for the Cert. But if you leave their employment they will bill you for it. This is pretty standard. They don't want to pay for the education if they don't benefit. Its your decission.

[gyoung]

I worked at a company a year ago that wanted to do the same thing. The employees resisted it because they felt undervalued before this was put on the table as a means to retain employees.

I don't think it is a bad thing though. It's basically a trade. They know it will make you more valuable and they want to protect their investment. However, I believe that 3 years is a rather long committment. I would take a look at the agreement. Do you have to repay the entire balance? Or say you leave after a year is the penalty reduced?

3 years is a long time in the IT world. If you can, I would try and negotiate (but that depends on your relationship with your employer) the length of the contract. When this was proposed at my last job, I told my boss that I wouldn't sign on for a 3 year agreement. I would have signed it for 1 year though. If they would have paid for me to get the certification, I would have felt 1 year was a fair trade.

FYI:

The company that did this was a smaller company (around 200 employees). I now work for a larger company that will pay 90% of tuition costs and no commitment. It's just a benefit. They will also pay for graduate school, but if you do that they ask you for a 3 year committment.

Now look at both of these... MCSE = 3years or Graduate degree = 3years.

Does something look unequal here?

[This message has been edited by gyoung (edited 02-16-2001).]

[Richard_Cranium72]

Me, Jad, Pickel and others here belong to a group that works under a signed contract.

The big difference is we pay dues to make sure there is no "hidden" fine print that will obligate us.

Under my terms, I am obligated to work for 3 years. If I fail to meet these terms(and others)legal action can be taken for loss of revenue..

Get your attorney to review this document PRIOR to signing so that you're not surprised somewhere down the road..

DrVette