Snappy title for a snappy thread

do your work hold you liable for any training you have done if you leave the business? If so, how long for?

I'm currently at the second stage of a course. For the first stage i signed a form saying i would pay back costs of training if i left the business, but quite reasonable (25% of costs if leaving 3 - 12 months after).

For this second stage, i knew I'd have to sign the form, didn't get round to it yet, but just had an email from the training guy saying over the past couple of months the form had changed - this is despite being given the old form to fill in. In the new form the terms are much more punitive: 100% to 12 months, 75% to 18 months.

Now there's no way I'm signing that, it's not the principles of the agreement i was party to. What sort of rights do i have with this type of employment contract - if legal, there'd be something to do with implied agreement, even if i hadn't signed anything yet, right?

also, 2 years of service to pay off training - pretty ridiculous, no? Is that standard? Sounds a bit workhouse to me