JCO7,
I'm sorry mate, perhaps you did not understand what I meant when I said the person holding the cash has the power.
You have obviously never had to try and get money out of some-one......it is very expensive and time consuming, no matter how watertight a contract is. The best way is by negotiation(irrespective of the contract terms) and that implies that I can pay as I wish ergo my statment that the person holding the cash has the power.
I have been on the receiving end of this from a certain company aligned with SAA. I left after 18 months and they wanted their full amount back. I made an offer and they rejected it(Hardegat I think was your term). They ended up accepting my offer 3 years later just before we were due in court. Even after my legal fees, I had the use of R100k for 3 years which more than makes up for the effort.
Think about this......what can they do? Take your licence away? Give you a bad reference? Throw you in jail?
If you make an offer, as long as it is anywhere in the realms of reality, they will have a tough time justifying spending many thousands to take you to court and what is the best outcome they can hope for.....maybe make you pay a bit more at best.
Bottom line is that if you have the money and you are prepared to pay, then you are in a super powerfull position. Obviously if you are not prepared to pay, then whether you have the money or not is irrelevant.