Legal Question in Employment Law in Pennsylvania
Education Assistance
My employer offers education assistance (see below). I met below rqrmts. I've been working at this co. for a year and decided it would be good to complete my B.A. in Bus. Admin which relates 100% to my position. As you can see from below, I need team leader approval. But, the Director denied simply because he has approved for others in the past and they left the dept or co. before a year & did not pay. In other words, I am being ''punished'' for what others did. Can he just flat out deny me? I am an excellent, engaged employee. I had intentions of staying here forever.
The program provides financial assistance to employees who successfully complete business and work-related courses outside of the company. It is intended to mutually benefit the employees of and the company. If an employee voluntarily terminates their employment (resigns) within one year of completing a course for which they have received Education Assistance all or part of that benefit must be repaid to the company.
Guidelines:
All regular full-time employees (working 30 hours or more per week) are eligible to receive education assistance for approved courses.
Eligible employees must obtain their team or unit leader�s approval prior to enrol
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Education Assistance
You asked about the education assistance program at work.
Employee benefits are often viewed as something that the employer grants to an employee at the employer's good will. This is not so. Employee benefits are part of the contract between employer and employee. Further, employee benefits are often governed by law and regulation.
Without doing research I would hazard that education benefits are governed by several laws including the Employee Retirement Security Act (ERISA). That act provides that benefits must be generally uniform across the employer inh order to be eligible for certain treatment. in this case, the employer is likely violating ERISA by the conduct of the manager improperly denying benefits.
Essentially, you need to speak with HR, legal or your compliance officer to "appeal" that decision. And if the answer is still negative, get in touch with me and we can prosecute this matter with a minimum of jeopardy to your employment.
The team or unit leader's approval is not for the purposes that the person thinks. In these cases their approval is meant to be a check as to whether the goals of the program fit and occasionally to conduct an employee evaluation.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Roger
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