FL Aviation law question
 

Greetings, hopefully someone can help with my question. Is it usual and legal for a FAR Part 135 company to have a pilot sign a training contract.
Thanks

It is not uncommon.

I doubt it would be illegal in any state, although there are reasonable limits to what would be enforceable.

A common tactic that people use to try and get out of these is to claim that they were under duress. This may be applicable if you already quit your old job and were not formally advised (in writing) of the need to sign a training contract when you were offered the job. If you couldn't get your old job back, effectively you had no choice but to sign the contract.

Talk to a labor lawyer in the state in question.

Training contracts are illegal in the State of Connecticut.

It's common, but depending on the company and specific contract they can be hard to enforce. The cost of training is so high and margins are so low these days that it's about the only thing an employer can do to protect their investment on you. Well, besides creating a positive work environment, paying fair wages, giving benefits, scheduling time off etc... but that stuff costs money :)

Thanks for the info.

Disclaimer: Not a lawyer here.

In a nutshell, it is illegal under federal law and under most, but not all, states' laws to require a new hire employee in any industry to pay for their own training as a condition of hire.

That said, it is perfectly legal for a company to LOAN you money to pay for training costs, and then recoup all or part of that money should you leave them before the specified contract length. It is, in fact, a de fecto training contract.

Look at the contract you're being offered. Dollars to donuts it's worded as a "loan" to you that you'd be on the hook for repaying.