🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <4jf83a$phv@nyx10.cs.du.edu> anon1167@nyx10.cs.du.edu (M) writes:

>I am on my second postdoc and want to escape into the real world, but 
>there is one small problem.  In order to get this position, I had to sign 
>a "repayment agreement".  This must be something new, because I did not 
>have to sign one at my first post-doc.  Basically, it states for each 
>month I work as a postdoc, up to one year, I incur a liability to repay 
>the money should I decide to leave the field and work in something other 
>than medical or health related teaching or research.  For each month 
>after one year, the liability is removed, until at 2 years, there is no 
>repayment liability.  If I were to leave now, after 7 months, I would 
>have to repay 7/12 of what I been paid so far, or about $15,000.

>So, my question is, does anyone have any experience with this?  Is it 
>possbile to get out of it?  I have no interest in doing research any 
>more, and teaching would be ok, but finding a job would probably be a 
>problem.

Sounds like they might have a legal problem enforcing such an agreement.  Just 
who are 'they' anyway?  The government, the university, the sponsor?  It might 
be worth fishing around for some legal advice.  For one thing, research jobs 
are hard to come by, and if you can't get a job, the agreement would be 
condemning you to unemployment forever.  At the very most, a well-documented, 
good faith effort to find a job should let you off the hook.

This is similar to employee agreements that forbid you from working for a 
company's competitor for years after you leave.  Those agreements do not stand 
up in court.

In any case, are 'they' really going to keep track of you forever?

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