Required employment

[Chelsea97]

Hi there,


I have a contract employment. My employer wants to put me on a training agreement as an apprentice for 3 years.



Within the training agreement they have stated ‘I need to be employed by them for 2 years following the end of apprenticeship’. Without any detail in regards to pay, consequences, conditions.



Where do I / they stand legally with this?


Thank you in advance.

[ULA]

It sounds like this is a "training clawback" type clause, which is based upon you remaining with the company for a period of time after your apprenticeship has completed in order to gain the benefit of any costs they have paid towards your apprenticeship. A training clawback clause, so long as it is reasonable and for example has a sliding scale of repayment i.e. the longer of the two years you remain the less you have to repay then they are legal.

I would suggest that if they have not defined exactly what costs are covered by this, so you know the amount of money involved and what the sliding scale is, that you ask the company to confirm those details. In addition you can also ask them the type of job that they would consider you being moved into at the end of your apprenticeship.

[Chelsea97]

Hi there,

Thank you for your help.

The issue here is that under the apprenticeship they have no right to clawback any direct or associated costs that relate to the apprenticeship. Which they have confirmed verbally with me.

As they cannot claim the costs they are making it an requirement that I agree to work a further 2 years post qualification almost as a trade off that they are giving me the opportunity to be an apprentice??

[ULA]

If those are the terms under which they are offering the apprenticeship then if you do sign up to them that is what you would be obliged to accept. In the event there is no detail written into the contract about what happens, in the event you leave within the two years, they may be relying on bringing a claim against you for breach of contract.

If you are still discussing/negotiating with them it may be best to get this cleared up now and ask what happens if in the event that you did decide to leave in the two year period.

Also as per my previous post you need to get some idea of what opportunities may be available once you have finished the apprenticeship.

[Chelsea97]

Hi thank you for your help.

So if I do leave, the grounds they could come at me with would be breach of contract.

And what I would need to get cleared up is:

What the consequence of breach of contract would be.
What my job opportunity / salary would be post qualification.
Would be very difficult to agree for myself and even what they would be happy to offer as I’m almost negotiating 3 years in advance.

If I do sign it as it stands, the wording is:
’need to be employed by X for 2 years after completing qualification’. That’s it. With no conditions. They could in theory keep my salary the same for the next 5 years... And in the event I moved away and could not commute, I could still be stung.

[ULA]

My general view, is based on the limited detail of the agreement shared on the post, the unknown consequence of what would happen should you leave in the two year period and what could be potentially offered in terms of job, career advancement etc after the 3 years, there are some uncertainties given you are tying yourself to the company for 5 years.

I appreciate apprenticeships and jobs may not be easy to get given the current situation caused by COVID19 but you need to get as much information about the things I have stated above as possible so that you can make an informed decision about whether this is the correct opportunity for you.

[Chelsea97]

Hi ULA

Really appreciate your help!

That line I quoted was thrown in to a standardised training agreement that the Professional qualification I’m doing offers to employers help with setting out the terms of training I.e. how may retakes of exams I’m allowed. Very basic and does not cover any employment commitments.

So they’ve decided to throw that line in themselves and that’s it..

I will ask them those questions tomorrow. Thank you!