Q: Would a lay-off due to the corona virus void my apprenticeship contract with my current employer.
I am in an apprenticeship program with a company that pays for my schooling. I signed the contract as a way to secure a job for 6 years. Now three years later management has become very toxic and it is just not a company that i want to work for anymore. The problem is if i were to leave the company now i would have to pay 25,000 dollars back to the company. In my contract it states "in the event of a economic lay-off of employment, the above mentioned repayment is not applicable". They offered a wave of voluntary lay-offs and i took the lay-off because i witnessed a lot of unsanitary practices and was not willing to risk getting my family sick. My question is if the lay-offs become mandatory would that get me out of the contract under the economic lay-off statement.
A: It all depends on the exact terms in the contract and all the other circumstances of the layoff and the current virus orders. The legal impact of layoffs because of the virus are unknown, and the courts will have to sort that out over the coming months and possibly years. Your company should provide some guidance eventually. If they demand repayment, use the Find a Lawyer tab to retain a local employment law attorney to represent you.
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