I work for a heavy equipment dealership as an Off-Road Heavy Equipment Technician. When I applied for my position I checked on the application my level of certification which is off-road only, and my resume says that as well. I also provided proof of my certification saying so. Received and signed an offer letter stating my wage was X amount of dollars.
Fast forward a year and I would like to go to school to get my last year of school and get full HET certification. Looked at the pay scale in the collective agreement and noticed that I won’t get a raise as they are actually paying me as a full HET vs an Off-Road only Journeyman which is an $8 an hour difference that they’ve technically been overpaying me. With the amount of overtime I have worked this last year that overpayment is a substantial amount of money, close to 25K, and now I am reconsidering mentioning going to school as I am not sure I want to bring this to their attention now.
Can they make me repay all this money if I mention it or am I safe because we both signed a contract upon my hiring guaranteeing me this amount and they can only cut my rate until I get my higher level certification. This is in Alberta if it makes a difference.