Last year, after not getting the raise that I had been promised, my supervisor told me about our continuing education program. She knew that I had talked about getting my MBA, and suggested that I pursue it. She told me that as long as the program could be related to the business, my company would pay for it.
Before my classes started, I once again checked with her to see if there was any paperwork or anything that I needed to do. She said no, I simply had to turn in my grades and my tuition bill at the end of the semester. I went on my silly, naive way and took my classes.
I got As in my classes, yay, and gave the bill and grades to my sup. She then gave them to the HR/CFO at our company. (Yes, they are the same person. I think that there should be a law against that somewhere) Three weeks go by, and I don't see a check.
Around this time, my grandfather died. I turned in my time off request fir the memorial service, and my supervisor approved it for bereavement leave. When I returned, I had an email from HR requesting an obituary or some kind of proof that my grandfather had died, when the service was, and that I actually went there.
Well, my family doesn't do obits. In fact, my grandfather died in Oregon and was then cremated. We had a private memorial service with just family. Had I known about this requirement, I would have taken a picture with his ashes or something, but I didn't. This request began three weeks of my company attempting to deny my leave pay. I got it in the end, but I had to provide the following:
- A letter from the crematorium with my grandfather's name and date of service
- A letter from my father proving my relationship to my grandfather and stating that I showed up at the service
- The city and state where my grandfather lived when he died
Not invasive at all right?? Ugg
So, back to the tuition deal. The day I found out that my leave had officially been approved, my supervisor told me that they would not be covering any of last semester's tuition. And, that they would pick and choose what classes they may pay for in the future. As I'm sure you can imagine, I was pissed. I was told to send a copy of my class schedule for my entire program to the HR/CFO and to schedule a meeting with her. Of course, she was "too busy" to meet with me for over a week.
We finally met today. First, she told me that she didn't have an MBA, she didn't even have a bachelors (big surprise from the world's worst HR person ever). She then let me know that they have paid for two MBAs in the company, but they were for "key players" in the company, and that I wasn't one of them. Though apparently one of the sales guys is. After that, she proceeded to tell me about the classes that they actually have paid for, including one girl who is completing her nursing degree (it seems that nursing will benefit the company, but my MBA wouldn't). Finally, she got to the list of classes she would be willing to pay for in my program. There were 4 out of ~20 classes that I have to take. It seems that the operations classes would "help in my current position" but that nothing else would.
The kicker is, that if she pays for the whopping 4 classes, I am supposed to sign an agreement to work for the company for 24 months after my reimbursement or I would have to pay all of the money back. Yup, they want to pay for 4 classes in my MBA and then expect me to use the degree and keep working for them for two years after I complete it. (not to mention that the employee manual they like to quote so much states a 12 month, not 24 month requirement)
I've weighed the amount that they would contribute against having to continue working there even after I will be far more marketable and I have decided that it isn't worth it. In fact, after the way that they have treated me, I'd be happy to leave the job yesterday. More than happy.
