Emm please ooo... Is it by force? Y are Ngerians thinking like this?? They never made it Mandatory if u can live with their terms apply if not, there are over 7million other businesses in Nigeria pls send your application there. The guy that said his wife retired and has refused 2 pay all I can say is I am sorry 4 you they do not have your time or they have calculated d costs and they know taking u 2 court is not a wise financial decision RIGHT NOW. I would advice u go and settle with them cuz it might get worse later and if it happens that they sue u mark my words THEY WOULD WIN THE CASE

Dr. Wise:
My brother, Access bank would not kill job seekers with this funny bond. My wife signed that bond in 2009 after training school at Ikeja and left the bank the next year. Guess what??

They collapsed the 2M bond into her account which she already emptied and since then, it has been accruing debit interest. I wrote them a stinker and challenged them to take her to court but yet they have decided to take it on the guarantor who has equally asked them to seek redress in court.

I am still waiting for them . . .

immediately i read it, i knew it was access bank.
you did well,
let them go to court!

"Nansense"

Guys, the manipulative inducement of employees(incoming or existing) to signing a bond aggreement voluntarily or under duress in the name of trainng is not only illegal but an infringement on his/her freedom to associate or dessociate. To bring it home, the Nigerian Government has an agency duely empowered to refund any employer who has spent monies in training and development of her staff.The Fund is called Industrial Training Fund.
Companies can therefore draw from these funds after tendering all necessary evidence for the trainings carried out. Many companies are already making use of these facilities.
No company will ever go to court for training bond associated violations.
Na simply shakara.

I hate the way the system works! Guess it doesn't like me too. GETTING VERY CLOSE TO MUTALLAB MODE NOW!!!

saxywale:

You are right but Banks don't do it abroad and you would even have access to so many financial materials apart from your training. Network Rail asked my friend to return every penny spent on his training though after he worked for them for less than a year

If law firms can do it, why not banks??!!

solomon111: Though it pains me to admit it,but i agree completely with sisi_kill.

Bwahahahahahaha!!

Why naa?!

ezme:

The OP misled you all, take a look at the "Heading" of section 2

you don't have to pay if you are sacked. The idea is to prevent trainees from leaving within a 2year period.

And Yes its Union Bank, a friend of mine got the offer and was really reluctant to take it since he desired an engineering role

Guy,

The OP did not mislead anyone. You'll still pay if you are sacked just that what you will pay is 'for the unutilized portion of the stipulated Two (2) years, the pro-rated cost of the training programme plus interest at the prevailing bank rate.'

....and this particular bank is Union Bank, i guess they copied it from Access Bank.

I'm not sure if we have this in Nigeria but in some jurisdictions, there's what is called the 'Unfair Contract Terms Act'. Any unfair term in a contract is null and void but i don't think we have this in our Nigerian legal system.

My junior brother was made to sign a similar bond after training before given offer letter at Union Bank. So it is not a new thing. It something that has been going on in the country without any body check-mating them or calling them to order.
All of them are taken undue advantage of our depressed economy to expolit new recuits.

Sisi_Kill: This isn't new. . .they do it abroad too. A company pays for your education and you are obligated to work for them for a certain period.

If you don't like the idea of working for a company for a specified time or having to pay restitution when you leave. . .then don't take their money for training or school fees. They ain't your daddy, why do you expect them to pay your school fees and request nothing in return?

So how can it be slavery where there is a CHOICE in the matter? Last I checked, slaves didn't have the luxury of saying "As much as the whole binding me in chains and taking me to a foreign land to go work until I die sounds like an exciting life adventure, I'd much rather stay in my land but thanks for offer, really appreciate it."

@Sisi_Kill, you don't seem to get my point. Check the bolded on the quote I posted. My bone of contention is that the bond is one-sided. Even if its the Company that breached the contract its still the employee that gets to pay!

Its definately wrong. You said choice, yes they were given a choice: An HOBSON CHOICE!

Wallie:

Count your lucky stars because I'm a little too busy to engage someone talking out of their hass. Carry on with your ignorant comments.

Bwahahahahaha!! Count my lucky stars? What the. . .what would you have done??!

See this one oh Mr . . .errr. . .ehmu. . "Lawyer" who claims repayment clause in a standard training contract is illegal. . . calling someone ignorant.

Jeeedus Efffing Christos!! Thank Goodness for the internet where someone who barely touch the cover of a LAW AND ORDER DVD can claim to have a degree in law.

They will never go to cour to enforce it. They will rather wait till you get employment in another (bank) organization which will require you to get clearance letter from them (former employer). This is exactly what happened to my friend just few days back. All these banks collaborate.

iyken: Guys, the manipulative inducement of employees(incoming or existing) to signing a bond aggreement voluntarily or under duress in the name of trainng is not only illegal but an infringement on his/her freedom to associate or dessociate. To bring it home, the Nigerian Government has an agency duely empowered to refund any employer who has spent monies in training and development of her staff.The Fund is called Industrial Training Fund.
Companies can therefore draw from these funds after tendering all necessary evidence for the trainings carried out. Many companies are already making use of these facilities.
No company will ever go to court for training bond associated violations.
Na simply shakara.

You are right iyken, most if not all Nigerian companies get a large chunk of what they've used in training their staff from ITF, even the Oil & Gas companies. I'm very very very sure that the company I'm presently with, got part of their mullah back as we were told after we've finished our training even though we were under bond too.

Employees shouldn't be scared, sign-on, get your training and if you get a better offer (in terms of pay/working conditions), leave.

Wow! Entrepreneurship seems to be the way O. It is tough but at least you aren't anybody's slave. I am thinking of writing a book on Human Resource Management in the not too distant future. I may just refer to this.

One new topic, 4 or five topic-related comments and then insults. Same routine. Gets boring with time. Wanna square of? Go get in the ring with Bash Ali. Na him dy find fight up and down. Ish!

Dr. Wise:
My brother, Access bank would not kill job seekers with this funny bond. My wife signed that bond in 2009 after training school at Ikeja and left the bank the next year. Guess what??

They collapsed the 2M bond into her account which she already emptied and since then, it has been accruing debit interest. I wrote them a stinker and challenged them to take her to court but yet they have decided to take it on the guarantor who has equally asked them to seek redress in court.

I am still waiting for them . . .

You see, any MUPPET can draw-up a bond when the other party "has no choice"!

it is called AGREEMENT UNDER DURESS! Null and Void ..... Shikenna!

"Confessions" get contested in court and are thrown in the dustbin (despite the Signature written in blood!)!
How much more that of a "vulnerable job starter" who can easily show that he/She was under pressure to sign and not to sign would simply mean "no-employment"!

Ab initio, that "Bond" should never be a "condition of employment" because training new employee is "given", anywhere!
You are not doing them a favor by training them, you train them so they can perform "better at the duty you give them and you therefore reap the benefit".

Thus, since no one can "create or derive legality" (suing for the 2milla) out of an illegality (the signed bond), the employer suit will simply be thrown out in court.

Any "baby lawyer" who actually studied his books in school will finish that bank, if they ever go to court.

Bottom line is: Not every "signed document" is enforceable in court. Copy That please.

If the issue at stake is "poaching of staff", the labor market is "competitive" and you need to up your game in terms of staff emolument, to retain staff, not by forcing some silly bond on them.

The example of "a company paying your college fees" is a silly one, like comparing orange and Apples!
"College fees" is to attain "educational qualification" (you will still need to be trained when you start work), while "on the job training" is to "increase worker productivity" in particular line of a company's business. Very different.

Lastpage!

BTW: In a country where "University Graduates" are being traumatized with "Trailer Driver" Positions (and they themselves think it is "okay as their DREAM JOB" , ) l am not surprised it keeps getting worse and this silly employers are having a field day.!

sessydoo: loll...until somethin drastic is done, this sort of bullshit will continue. When i saw d caption, my mind goes straight to access bank bc in recent times their staff have been dying like rats n chickens. They subject their staff to slave trade, they bully evryone, they set unrealistic targets like their counterparts in other banks, they hold meeting till 3, 4am sometimes and still expect u to resume 8am d same day, i no fit laff ooo I was with dat bank b4 God delivered me from their bondage, honestly if all the Banks employees can unite and stand against these slave masters, order their staff to downtool, lets see if they are gonna ask goats n hens to mount the cubicle to attend to customers. And to think that these are the kind of ppl that form GEJ's think tank, I dont want to say this Country is doomed but for how long shall we continue like this? these MDs are taking d advantage of high unemployment in d land to molest n enslave their employees...Recently a group of people petitioned the CBN Gov, Senate, International Human rights Org, Presidency, Ban-ki-moon telling them that these banks are committing crime against humanity (Stil have a copy of the petition) but nothing has been heard from them. If you see the atrocities exposed in that write-up, u will weep for this Nation esp these bankers

Please can I get a copy of the above stated petition?

acidtalk: I have spoken against the authorities let me now speak the truth on this issue.

It is a VERY WELL KNOWN fact that ACESS Bank has the BEST training/training school in the whole of Nigerian financial institution.

After the recapitalization, Banks like Zenith, First, Diamond, Finland and IBTC-Chatered rushed for employees of Acess and were doubling and in some cases almost triplling their salaries.

Those who worked in Acess will attest to the fact that they lost very good number of their staff to other banks because in their words "Acess Bank staff are ready to go" they didn't need much training on their new job and could work under the worst of conditions.

The question is as an investor, will you invest such an amount to bring out the best in an employee only for that employee to leave you barely a year and in some cases few months after working.

We will all definitely consider that employee as a traitor and look at ourselves as being silly.

In as much as I am AGAINST our Labour laws (because they actual don't favour the employee) I won't judge this issue on sentimental basis.

Acess bank have the RIGHT to draft out such bond. Because they have been bitten times and times again.
My conclusion is if it doesn't favour you, then don't venture accepting the job in the first place.

Its like the military and piloting, you have already signed your death warrant even before resuming work.

Anyone who after signing that Agreement and defaults on it should be jailed if found guilty because that is the height of Deceit, Greed and Corruption.

Let's call a spade a spade irrespective of who and what is involved.

Chief, GTBank has the best. Even Access gave GTbank staff next level if you are ready to join. GTBank don't even request for such.

Adeone: my question is simple,must you work in a bank?

My brother ask them ooo

Are u guys capable of understanding English the second paragraph states that you don't have to pay anything if you are sacked...

sharp man:

Guy,

The OP did not mislead anyone. You'll still pay if you are sacked just that what you will pay is 'for the unutilized portion of the stipulated Two (2) years, the pro-rated cost of the training programme plus interest at the prevailing bank rate.'

....and this particular bank is Union Bank, i guess they copied it from Access Bank.

I'm not sure if we have this in Nigeria but in some jurisdictions, there's what is called the 'Unfair Contract Terms Act'. Any unfair term in a contract is null and void but i don't think we have this in our Nigerian legal system.

Yes we do. But is better to use it as a shield rather than a sword. It means that the courts will almost always interprete the bond as being contrary to public policy because it is in 'restraint of trade'. However, rather than sue the Bank, let them sue you on the basis of that Bond and you can challenge it on grounds of unreasonableness. That is exactly why the banks cannot or rather will not take you to court on that bond. Infact i encourage people to sign off on it if that is the only snag between you and a paid employment, and let the courts decide on it at the appropriate time. Adenuga of Globacom used it on us, did it work? NO

@ Ops, why did you use a misleading caption. To leave the employment of the bank is different from been sacked.

Hmmm I had a similar agreement in the US when I started my first job. They paid me a $6,000 sign in bonus. The agreement was that if I left before 1 year, I would have had to refund the sign in bonus. The gray area here is that bonuses are taxed at 44% so the actual amount I received was $3,360. As a result, I didn’t know if I would owe $6,000 or $3,360. At any rate, I stayed at the job for longer than a year and I didn’t have to deal with that.

I think that this agreement should be amended to only entail resigning. If you tell an employer that you are going to stay for 2 years and you don’t then there should pay a penalty. However, the agreement at its current state is indentured servitude. Getting a job should not mean that you sign yourself into bankruptcy. What if the economy tanks and you get laid off, should you still owe 2 million naira? Haba.

Egelife: Please can I get a copy of the above stated petition?

its heavy but if you give me your email address, i can send it to you. A friend sent it to me and the title is below

Are Nigerian Banks Committing
Crimes Against Humanity?
by Ahmed ‘Alatenumo’ Sule and Three Anonymous Bankers

Sisi_Kill:
Bwahahahahaha!! Count my lucky stars? What the. . .what would you have done??!

See this one oh Mr . . .errr. . .ehmu. . "Lawyer" who claims repayment clause in a standard training contract is illegal. . . calling someone ignorant.

Jeeedus Efffing Christos!! Thank Goodness for the internet where someone who barely touch the cover of a LAW AND ORDER DVD can claim to have a degree in law.

Just listen to urself Sisi Kill! i guess u re one of the slave masters in d banking industry. What you pple dont realise is that if the banking industry continues to run like this, then its "going-concern" is not guarantteed as more people get frightened n discouraged to even work in banks now. You talked about, "if u get sacked that means u re not outstanding in ur job" please have u seen some unrealistic targets banks set for their employees? are u aware some banks' staff recently died of heart-attack just bc they couldnt meet such evil n useless targets? honestly i weep for my generation esp this jungle city called naija...we need ppl, men of honour and integrity that can challenge the status-quo and liberate Nig labour from these "evil" men called bank executives..mtchewww

Sisi_Kill:
Bwahahahahaha!! Count my lucky stars? What the. . .what would you have done??!

See this one oh Mr . . .errr. . .ehmu. . "Lawyer" who claims repayment clause in a standard training contract is illegal. . . calling someone ignorant.

Jeeedus Efffing Christos!! Thank Goodness for the internet where someone who barely touch the cover of a LAW AND ORDER DVD can claim to have a degree in law.

Oponu, who claimed that the contract is illegal? I understand that English language is foreign to you but try reading what I said a word at a time like a didirin. I’ll even highlight the relevant sections for you and if what I wrote is over your head, ask any 8 year old for help.

Wallie:

Things are not always that clear cut. Just because you willingly sign something doesn’t make it enforceable.

This particular contract may [/b]be unenforceable because of (1) illegality, (2) fraud, (3) duress, and (4) unconscionability. Of all the available defenses listed, I think unconscionability and illegality [b]might prove to be the strongest defense.

The contract is unconscionable because it is extremely unfair to ONLY the applicant and an applicant almost has no choice than to sign it (duress) because they have no bargaining power and if not signed, will continue to remain unemployed thereby subjecting their family to untold hardship. The contract is heavily lopsided! They also want you to pay if they fire you?

Won’t you sign a contract like the one above to provide for your family especially when other jobs are almost non-existent? But employment law in Nigeria will determine the legality of requiring refund for training provided by an employer. In the US, most states are "at will" employees and as such can quit or be fired for no reason at all without recourse to either party.

For the benefit of those reading, what I listed above are some of the ways that a properly executed contract can become unenforceable. This particular contract might be enforceable but the only true way of knowing is if the issue has been litigated in the past.

I took a cursory look at the Labor Act but nothing in there about re-payment of training costs. But I did see the text below, which says that an employment contract can be terminated:

(7) A contract shall be terminated-
(a) by the expiry of the period for which it was made; or
(b) by the death of the worker before the expiry of that period; or
(c) by notice in accordance with section 11 of this Act or in any other way in which a contract is legally terminable or held to be terminated.

http://www.nigeria-law.org/LabourAct.htm

*Disclaimer: I'm not a Nigerian lawyer but the only thing that I've posted so far that is peculiar to Nigerian law is the Labor Act.

mrkels: [size=14pt]@ALL WILLING TO KNOW THE NAME OF THE BANK, THIS IS ACCESS BANK,GOT AN OFFER,I TURNED IT DOWN[/size]

You should have spoken to a lawyer. It is an empty threat. If you leave the bank will not be able to enforce it. That clause is against natural justice and it is not enforceable anywhere.

First, these bankers start with milking depositors' monies and then they become too rich and soon the money crawls into their heads. Call it another form of colonialism. The oppreesor against the under-privileged. Can only happen in a FOURTH world country!

Wallie:

Things are not always that clear cut. Just because you willingly sign something doesn’t make it enforceable.

This particular contract may be unenforceable because of (1) illegality, (2) fraud, (3) duress, and (4) unconscionability. Of all the available defenses listed, I think unconscionability and illegality might prove to be the strongest defense.

The contract is unconscionable because it is extremely unfair to ONLY the applicant and an applicant almost has no choice than to sign it (duress) because they have no bargaining power and if not signed, will continue to remain unemployed thereby subjecting their family to untold hardship. The contract is heavily lopsided! They also want you to pay if they fire you?

Won’t you sign a contract like the one above to provide for your family especially when other jobs are almost non-existent? But employment law in Nigeria will determine the legality of requiring refund for training provided by an employer. In the US, most states are "at will" employees and as such can quit or be fired for no reason at all without recourse to either party.

You get Sense

mapet: By Business Law lecturer in Bskul told us that it is illegal for coys to get employees to sign BOND. In fact he said if employers want to bond us, we should sign and challeng them to take us to court. He quoted one case where FG sent a guy abroad and he was put on bond, the guy walked away from the useless bond and won in court...

THIS KIND OF BOND IS TANTAMOUNT TO BULLYING! THE BULLYING DOES NOT MAKE IT LEGAL!

If I was built with an employee mindset, I will take such job, get the training, work for 6 months and walk out of that job with extended notification of my resignation, and a cock wont crow. You come to my home to ask me for 2m, I shoot you on the legs!

Les: If i refused to pay nko? Dem go kill me? If you are self employed and happy, lemme hear you say AMEN!!

AMEN!!!

Most def is ACCESS BANK, still got a copy of their offer letter which I rejected, crazy place. Though they hav their reasons which is due to flight of staff 2 other banks wit better pay, grade n working conditions, it really doesn't justify this.@acidtalk,y don't they improve their own working conditions n see whether staff won't stay. This is jst slavery.

Dr. Wise:
My brother, Access bank would not kill job seekers with this funny bond. My wife signed that bond in 2009 after training school at Ikeja and left the bank the next year. Guess what??

They collapsed the 2M bond into her account which she already emptied and since then, it has been accruing debit interest. I wrote them a stinker and challenged them to take her to court but yet they have decided to take it on the guarantor who has equally asked them to seek redress in court.

I am still waiting for them . . .

It is good she called their bluff. The bank should be sued for BULLYING! Nigerian laws allow you to resign from your job voluntarily within the notice terms you have signed. They can only ask you to pay in lieu of notice and that is fixed at the salary for that period.

You can sue for BULLYING!

Adeone: my question is simple,must you work in a bank?

And my answer is simple: Do you have any other job for them?