Spot on. That's what bothered me the most: it came through, at the last minute via email, from someone who hadn't been part of the recruitment process. Should've been perfectly easy - and ethical - to be up front about it.

The other thing is, as someone else pointed out, it's written (in fairly complex legalese) in a way that strictly benefits the company no matter the circumstance. One thing I can understand, is it stipulates you have to give the co 45 days notice or the penalty is greater than the amount owing on the contract. Who requires 45 days notice these days! (Mesa!)