Original Message

Those contracts and fear tactics usually don't hold water and are scare tactics. The worse they can do is impact your credit score. It would cost more in lawyer fees than it is worth if you refuse to pay...if they want to improve retention, positive incentives like hefty retention bonuses, improved 401k, will work better than negative ones. When and if a company does something like you mentioned it sends a red flag message to me and others in our industry that there is a toxic work climate and culture present.