How would you handle this issue?

Inogenius

I'm really pissed off at random people in the company I work for. For awhile, it was a great place to work at, lately, it's been ... ****. I thought it was going to be good but it wasn't. This latest one will likely cause me to resign at the end of this pay period.

In May of this year I was told about tuition reimbursement. I talked to our HR manager and told her I was interested. Of course she told me with my track record, that I was of course included and it'd be no problem. I went ahead and transferred to a new school in July, and again confirmed that the tuition reimbursement would be there. The day I went to signup for my classes, I asked if everything was fine, was told they would have no problem covering them. I even offered to cover the non-business related classes, and was told that they would be no problem since it was still towards a business degree. Two weeks ago I hand in the invoice. No problem still. Friday I hear a rumor that they weren't going to cover it. So today I emailed our HR lady and I'm told to go see the VP. There I'm told, you guessed, it wasn't covered. Claimed it wasn't in the budget -- how in the hell did they not know this 1, 2, or even 3 months ago?! Of course I'm told that he's going to see if they can reimburse me at the end of the year. But I still have to come up with the 5k right now to pay for the schooling, and I still don't have a guarantee as to whether I'm going to be reimbursed at the end of the year.

Now, this wasn't just an issue with me. There's about 3-4 others involved, but so far I'm the only one that knows this. They were lucky that I asked at the end of the day.

I told my manager to not be surprised if I don't show up tomorrow, she understood, and said that if she had any clue about this she would've told me. After cooling down a bit, I sent an email to our Chairman, CEO, CFO that I'd like to discuss the issue, and related issues with them tomorrow. It was a bit of a nasty email. I might've swore.

I don't expect to have a job tomorrow, but at this point I don't care.

CM Diddy

Thats tough. That sounds alot like the company I work for, people ahving their heads up their asses and not knowing the budget before telling people they'd get reimbursed.

Im not sure ho familiar/friendly you are with upper management. If they know you, and like you, they'll prob take your email seriously, and try to explain things to you. COnsidering theres other people involved that got screwed, I cant forsee thsm canning you over an email. THat would make them look like even more dicks. And to upper management, perception is everything

Having a handfull of people on the hook for tuition they thought was getting covered because of management mistakes, followed by firing a disgruntled employee for voicing his displeasure would def be a hit on employee morale.

When did punk rock become so safe?
When did the scene become a joke?
The kids who used to live for beer and speed
now want their fries and coke
Cursing and flipping birds are not allowed,
in fact let's keep noise levels down

Must separate the church and skate!

Beaker

Did you have anything in writing saying you'd get reimbursed?

U MAD

Felix

The Enigma Of WC

If tuition reimbursement was written in your employee handbook as a benefit to you and the other employees, then I believe he company has to pay your tuition. It's basically part of your salary in a sense (if you had the opportunity to work for two companies, similar nature of business, same pay, and one offered this as a benefit and the other didn't... thus leading you to choose this job...)

I guess what I'm getting at is, as a benefit, you are entitled to it under a contractual obligation. However if it wasn't a written benefit, then your out of luck. Thing is, with the economy today, I can see where the company could be cutting back on expenditures, and in reality, you haven't lost anything except the ability to go to school and have it covered by your employer.......

Now, if it was a benefit, You can do a few things. Call an attorney, and request a free consultation. Explain the situation to the attorney, and ask him if he feels you can legally obtain the tuition from the company, or possibly an increase in pay, since this benefit is part of your salary agreement and you are to be compensated as part of this agreement. Doing this however, there are things the employer can come back with to get out of paying it in full (such as the non work career related classes). The employer could choose to "lay you off". thus not having to provide you with salary and benefits, but only unemployment.

As far as it not being a benefit, you don't have much leverage. All I can say is, regardless of how upset you are with the situation, there is no problem voicing your opinion with your immediate boss, and if need be, work your way up the management chain... you should however conduct yourself in a professional manor, because to be terminated for cussing your employer out, or acting in a way that is unbecoming of an employee, you are not doing yourself any god when you need to get another job and provide them as a previous employer.

It is unfortunate that this has happened. Hope it works out for you, but like I said, taking the high road, and handling the situation professionally without loosing your cool is the best thing you can do.

Inogenius

Nah, it wasn't in writing at all.

I walked in and told them 9/15 is my last day though. Already got a job lined up in the web hosting world... it'll be fun working from home.