Reimbursement of Training Fees Agreement

[bonniepops]

Evening!

My first post, so please be gentle. Any advise from anyone with some sort of experience would be much appreciated.

I have handed my notice in to my current employer. I have swiftly received a letter from them detailing costs (almost £1,600) which they believe I owe them due to some training I have had which they will deduct from my final salary leaving me with nothing in my last pay packet.

I did not realise I had entered into ANY training which I was financially liable for. There is a 'clawback' clause in my contract but this was signed when i started, nothing has ever specifically been given to me regarding the courses I was asked to undertake, no costs mentioned, it just seems like a catch all clause or any course they want to charge me for.

The 'clawback' clause in Personal Particulars states;

"The following fees will become repayable by you should you leave employment with the Company. This schedule is applicable to each course completed or each academic year completed"

This is then followed by the sliding % scale but no actual fees/ costs are mentioned as it's just a generic statement.


Within a week of starting (during the exciting 'I've got a new job and I need to sign a billion forms period') I have also signed a separate Reimbursement of Training Fees Agreement. The clawback clause is written slightly differently;

"Should the company pay for external training for the employee it is recognised that, due to the high cost involved with the training, the Company needs to protect its investment. Therefore, if the employee should terminate his/her employment of his own volition within 2 years of the completion of any such training then the following repayment terms will apply"

This is then again followed by the sliding % scale mentioned previously. It also includes a provision for the Company to deduct the above monies from my salary. Again, no fees of sums of money mentioned as it's a generic statement and not specific to any particular course.


There are 4 training courses detailed in the letter. 2 of which the Company has 'kindly' chosen not to reclaim for.

Course 1 - A general H&S Course - Course was booked for an employee who decided to leave the company before partaking in the course. The Company was looking for volunteers as the course had "already been paid for" (in their words). I volunteered, went on the course, I had no idea I was volunteering to be financially liable - the course was nothing to do with the job role I held nor will it help me in future.

Course 2 - An industry specific Course developed by a training company owned by the same person who owns the company I've resigned from - a course consisting of a number of different modules over several months. First one was undertaken Nov-2019, latest one Feb-2021. The course is not complete yet.
As I mentioned, this particular course is facilitated by a business owned by the MD of the company I'm employed by and is based in the same building

Courses 3 and 4 - one was a H&S manual handling course and the other was a commercial awareness course - they've stated they will not pursue costs of these. No idea why the others are being pursued but these are not. - I'm not complaining - just seems strange.


Now for my plethora of questions;

1. Course 1, no costs have ever been shared, just this 'catch all' clause in the training agreement - Without costs being detailed can I be liable? How did I know what was chargeable and what wasn't?

2. Course 1, Under the circumstances, given the course was booked for someone else, can the Company reclaim the monies from me? I have taken the training under the explicit knowledge the money is already spent, therefore it is not costing the Company anything. Surely they tried to recover the costs from the previous employee?

3. Course 2, again, No costs have been shared / agreed. I had no idea there was a cost, especially since they are based in the same building and owned by the same guy.

4. Course 2, the Training agreement expressly states "...within 2 years of the COMPLETION of any such training...". The course is not complete, so can the Company reclaim monies from me if the training is NOT completed as per the wording of their agreement?

5. Course 2, can the Company reclaim monies per module as opposed to the whole course? Their wording states completion of the course. The course has apparently been paid for (I would suspect at the same time - likely pre-Nov-2019) but they are breaking it down into modules and seeking to recover each one individually.


As mentioned previously - any sort of guidance would be very much appreciated as I find the situation to be quite confusing.

Many thanks!
bonnie

[ULA]

On a contractual/legal perspective both your contract of employment and separate agreement clearly set out what is know as a "training clawback clause". You have seen and signed these documents so they are enforceable, even if at the time they did not specify sums which would in reality be difficult to do, the intent is clear.

That given In response to your questions:

Course 1 - You could have an argument as you have detailed to say that you volunteerd to do the course, which was not relevant to your job, as a result of someone leaving and the company not being able to get a refund. It was to the company's advantage to have anyone attend the course.

Course 2 - Regardless of whether the training company is owned by the same person, I presume that the training is being charged to your employer's company. I can see your perspective on this in regard to in your view the course has not being completed and the training clawback clause specifically states ".... completion of any such training....". However if the course is made up of modules that are charged for separately or totally in advance because of the extended period of time under which it is run, then that is potentially why they are trying to reclaim this.

I would suggest that you try and push back on both courses on the basis discussed and they may back down or you might end up in a compromise of what is owed.

[bonniepops]

Thank you Ula, much appreciated.

Hopefully clear heads will prevail!