TL;DR: my bf's new job is trying to force him to take college courses, despite not telling him in his interview/ offer letter that they would be required for this position. He was never going to stay long as we are moving so is uninterested in committing
My boyfriend has worked in the landscaping/ garden industry for over 10 years now. Despite desperately trying to get out of this industry, he recently had to take a job as a junior account manager at a local landscaping company. It is important to note that, since he has no desire to continue down this path and further his career in landscaping, he does not wish to commit more than what is absolutely necessary to this trade. It is simply a job to him, and nothing more. Sadly, many people in the landscaping community have a very pro-work attitude and work tends to extend way outside the 9-5. I should also note that we are moving across the country in August and he has always known he couldn't stay at this company very long, but needed a job and appreciated the opportunity to put jr. acct manager on his resume, even if it was short-lived.
In his interview, he was asked on a casual basis if he would be willing to take college courses to further his knowledge on the plants they most often deal with. As far as he was concerned, it seemed like an optional extracurricular, so he said sure. He also needed the job so wasn't about to say no. He was offered the position, and started about 3 weeks ago. When they offered him the position, they made no mention that college courses would be required of him should he accept.
Just about every day since he started, the account manager he reports to has asked what his “plan” is for furthering his plant education outside of work. He has made some excuses, and also noted that he learns best on the job and would prefer to expand his knowledge base that way. He is, after all, in a junior position, where I would assume the main objective is to teach him how to be an account manager and provide opportunities for him to learn. He has been met with a lot of push back and insistence that he visits local nurseries on the weekend and enroll in a course or two.
He is now between a rock and a hard place, where he would prefer not to be unemployed but also has no intention of following through on these courses or any work-related extracurriculars outside of his work hours. Does he have a leg to stand on here saying he did not accept this job under the pretense that he would have to take college courses while employed there? He is not a very confrontational person but I'm just trying to get an objective viewpoint here on whether he should even bother fighting if they're so dead set on him taking classes.
ETA: the employee handbook states that they will cover college courses but isn't clear about when this benefit takes effect. His insurance and other benefits don't kick in until 3 months after his start date so he was under the assumption that if they were going to pay for courses, they would only do so after that 3 month period. He has not asked for clarity on this yet as, again, he has no intention of contributing outside time to this job.