Hi!
Employee at a small company (~15 employees) in MD. Upon hire I was required to sign the employee handbook. The first page of the handbook states:
“This handbook is intended only to outline the employment policies, procedures and benefits of [The Company]. This manual is not intended to be all- inclusive and should not be considered to be an employment contract. [The Company] reserves the right to change employment policies, procedures, benefits or this manual at any time without notice. It is the responsibility of the employee to stay abreast of policy. [The Company] will make every effort to notify employees of any policy changes, additions or deletions. Said changes will immediately become a part of this manual.
OUR COMPANY IS AN AT-WILL EMPLOYER. THIS MEANS THAT REGARDLESS OF ANY PROVISION IN THIS EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK, EITHER YOU OR THE COMPANY MAY TERMINATE THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP AT ANY TIME, FOR ANY REASON, WITH OR WITHOUT CAUSE OR NOTICE. NOTHING IN THE EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK OR IN ANY DOCUMENT OR STATEMENT, WRITTEN OR ORAL, SHALL LIMIT THE RIGHT TO TERMINATE EMPLOYMENT AT-WILL. NO EMPLOYEE OR REPRESENTATIVE OF THE COMPANY IS AUTHORIZED TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT –EXPRESS OR IMPLIED –WITH ANY EMPLOYEE FOR EMPLOYMENT FOR A SPECIFIED PERIOD OF TIME UNLESS SUCH AN AGREEMENT IS IN A WRITTEN CONTRACT SIGNED BY THE CO-DIRECTORS OF THE COMPANY.”
Later in the handbook is the following clause:
“If an employee leaves on their own terms or is terminated for violating any of the terms of The Employee Handbook within the first 18 months of employment, then they will need to reimburse [The Company] $1,500 for costs associated with their training and retraining a new employee. This will be deducted from the final pay check.”
Since this is not a “contract” does this mean that I am legally bound to relinquish 1500 if I leave before 18 months?