Can I get out of a commitment to stay for 6 months?

[BigJ]

All,

On the 4th July I signed a letter agreeing to reduced hours (32 instead of 40) for a periods of 6 weeks in order to give me two half-days per week to complete my masters degree dissertation. The agreement made no mention of salary and I have continued to recieve full salary during this period.

In return for this reduced working time the agreement I signed states:

"This time off is considered as training/career development and as such it is agreed that you will not leave the company in the six months following the completion of this agreement"

There are two more paragraphs to the agreement but they only cover the start and end date of the 6 week period (July to August 2013) and that the reduced hours will be Monday morning and Friday afternoon.

I am now considering resigning and would like to know:

Is the agreement legally binding?
If so what repercussions do I face for breaching it?

I am looking to resign as part of a headcount reduction. The team I manage is being cut in size, to such a size that I do not believe it needs me to manage it. Therefore if they let me go then no perm staff would need to be dismmissed (my salary exceeds the sum of all the salaries of those facing dismissal).

Morally I feel I should honour the agreement, but I feel an even stronger obligation to protect the jobs of the people I recruited.

Thanks in advance.

John

[charitynjw]

Re: Can I get out of a commitment to stay for 6 months?

Hi BigJ, & welcome to Legal Beagles.

So, what would happen if you didn't complete the 6 months?

If what you have written above is all you have signed up for, google 'illusory promise'.

[SpringerSpaniel]

Re: Can I get out of a commitment to stay for 6 months?

Can you ask for some without prejudice negotiations, to explore options ?

[BigJ]

Re: Can I get out of a commitment to stay for 6 months?

That is indeed all the letter contained, but as I have been paid full salary during the reduced hours have I not either a) recieved a consideration making it no longer 'illusory' or b) an overpayment (which I should reasonably repay either by exchanging for un-used holiday or as a deduction from final salary).

Regards, John

[charitynjw]

Re: Can I get out of a commitment to stay for 6 months?

The agreement made no mention of salary and I have continued to recieve full salary during this period.

cccc

[BigJ]

Re: Can I get out of a commitment to stay for 6 months?

cccc

Sorry, I don't understand?

Thanks, John

[charitynjw]

Re: Can I get out of a commitment to stay for 6 months?

Sorry, I don't understand?

Thanks, John

I was quoting something you had posted to highlight the fact that the issue concerning the adjustment of hours & pay for same wasn't a factor in the 'promise'.

Therefore it cannot be held to be a consideration for value, which would be a necessary part of a contract; therefore, imo, no contract.

(The 'cccc' bit was only put in because there has to be a minimum of 4 characters before you can post a comment!)

[BigJ]

Re: Can I get out of a commitment to stay for 6 months?

I was quoting something you had posted to highlight the fact that the issue concerning the adjustment of hours & pay for same wasn't a factor in the 'promise'.

Therefore it cannot be held to be a consideration for value, which would be a necessary part of a contract; therefore, imo, no contract.

I see.

(The 'cccc' bit was only put in because there has to be a minimum of 4 characters before you can post a comment!)

I spent ages wondering what the 'cccc' stood for! I hope you'll forgive me, stress and lack of sleep is catching up on me!

Many thanks for the help.

Regards, John

[Inca]

Re: Can I get out of a commitment to stay for 6 months?

[QUOTE=BigJ;371941]I see.



I spent ages wondering what the 'cccc' stood for! I hope you'll forgive me, stress and lack of sleep is catching up on me!

I've been here 13 months and didn't realise that was why some folks just put 4 letters on posts when they've replied in the multi-quote ,,makes perfect sense NOW

[charitynjw]

Re: Can I get out of a commitment to stay for 6 months?

[QUOTE=Inca;372001]

I see.



I spent ages wondering what the 'cccc' stood for! I hope you'll forgive me, stress and lack of sleep is catching up on me!

I've been here 13 months and didn't realise that was why some folks just put 4 letters on posts when they've replied in the multi-quote ,,makes perfect sense NOW

I could've used a different 4-letter word, I guess!

[BigJ]

Yesterday I re-discovered LegalBeagles and when registering found I already had an account, which brought me back to this old thread.

I'm pleased to say that this advice really helped and I did manage to have some without prejudice negotiations. The outcome of which was an agreement for me to resign and the staff that were potentially at risk of redundancy where never even aware that their jobs were under threat. Up to 2019 when I lost contact with them, they were still happily employed by the company.

As for me, the day after I finished working my notice period, the company secured some venture funding and I was asked to continue in my role which I did for several more years.

Thanks again for the advice, John

[ULA]

Thank you so much BigJ for coming back to this thread and providing an update. Glad to hear that our advice helped and that things have gone well for you. Best wishes.