It was happiness galore for me yesterday afternoon as my company drafted me for a two weeks job training in England early next year. However, a very serious condition has been attached to this offer. The company came up with what they called "Golden Handcuff" which implies we (me and another colleague) who are to undertake the training, should sign a legal document, sealing our appointment with the company for another two and half years. By this, the management explained, we are not to leave the company until the expiration of this duration. If we decide to do so, then we MUST refund a given percentage of the training fund based on how soon our decision came after we had received the training (like 100% refund if leaving before one year, 70% if leaving after one year and so on). This they maintained will help the company recover their supposedly huge investment on us before we leave. I am aware many corporate organizations do this, but I am not sure I truly understand the repercussions (if any). I see this as a one time opportunity to be exposed to a new world and be placed on a new horizon of life (a rare situation I have never been a part of before), yet hanging my future on a static scale is so scary. Please do not misunderstand me, I feel so privileged to be selected out of 75 other staff of the company. But what if something better comes up within this period? The company do not currently pay well and the work environment is not that good. Although we have been promised a bigger package if and when the company begins to reap the fruit of our training. In other words, if this does not happen (reaping fruit), then we have to stay on the same salary level and still remain binded by the handcuff. My people, I believe many of you were once on our shoes, please how did you handled the situation? Did you guys just signed and damned the consequence or did you negotiated any further? Please share your experience, including what happened afterwards. Thank you.