Employment contracts

[tjsky]

I am a customer service representative for an insurance company. I was told by my employer that I had to get licensed in property and casualty insurance to preform the duties required by the job. My employer paid for me to get this license and had me to sign a form stating that I would stay with her for 2 years or pay back the amount she paid out for the license. Since acquiring this license things have not gone well with the employer / employee relationship and I must say that I feel trapped by this agreement. I have no use for this license outside of this position and feel that I could have preformed most of the duties without the license. I am very unhappy in my current position as there have been many downfalls. I have not gotten any of the commission that I was promised upon accepting the position and my employer continues to change and add to my duties with no increase in compensation. What are my rights? I feel as though things are going to continue to get worse and I have but two options: 1-Stay in a work environment that is very unsatisfying for numerous reasons or 2-pay hundreds of dollars for a license that I did not want and will not use. I feel that this "agreement" has given my employer control over me to stay in a work environment that is no good for me. Please help. What are my options??

[Buenchico]

I apologise that this response doesn't answer your question.

However, I feel that it should be pointed out that the Answerbank is a UK-based site. Your reference to 'hundreds of dollars' suggests that you might be in the USA. While we're happy to help anyone, regardless of their location, there aren't going to be many people on this site who understand the intricacies of US employment law.

You might be more likely to get an informed response if you post here
http://www.answerbag.com/
or here
http://answers.yahoo.com/

(If the 'dollars', in your question, are actually Canadian, Australian or from elsewhere, Yahoo Answers has 'local' sites in many parts of the world).

Once again, I apologise that I've not directly helped you but I hope that I might have pointed you in the right direction to find informed advice.

Chris

[Ice.Maiden]

I'd have a word with your personnel department, or seek legal advice.