I have recently sat a couple of courses which the company has paid for, I have not sat any exams for these courses, but will be doing so in the future. I have requested a pay rise, as the work I do does not match the salary I should be on. I have been told that I can have my pay rise if I pass the exams, this could be any time from 4-6 months. Until then I have to wait and only on successful completion will I receive the pay increase. This has put me in a situation where I am thinking about leaving my position as the company will not pay my worth. In doing so, I'm unsure if they could re-coup any fees which they have paid out.

My main contract only states the following about training;

"You will be expected to undergo any in-service training which has been identified by the company as being necessary to undertake your duties."

Yet in the company hand book, under 'Education & Training', states.

"Where a request for funded training (e.g degree course, etc) is received from an employee and funding is granted, and the employee then terminates their employment within 12 months of the date of training, then in accordance with the details specified on the Training Request Form, the company will seek to recover the cost of this training from the employee."

I have never requested funding as they offered to pay themselves.

This hand book is currently under review and a new edition will shortly be published.

My contract does not state anything about payments been recovered, and also my contract does not reference the staff handbook in any way. So can the handbook be used as a legal document against me?

I have not signed any training request forms or a new contract since I started my employment nearly three years ago. I know it was not stated on my acceptance letter when I first joined the company, that fees would be recovered in this situation.

I know that the new letters of acceptance for a new employee states that these fees can be covered, but this does not affect me as I still have my original contract and have not sined a new contract since I started.

So is it possible for the company to recover any money using the either my contract, staff handbook or acceptance letter?

All help will be most appreciated.

Thanks

Hi Barney,

I expect they would in fact recover fee from your final salary, its fairly common place, could you afford the loss at least you will be away from the company.

Do you have trade union membership, if so I suggest you speak to them, they will be aware of likely action, and could have knowlege of similar situations.

Andy

Barny,

I'm sorry to hear that things aren't going too well at work for you at the moment.

To cover some of your questions...

First of all, the employee handbook, contract and even offer and acceptance letters all form as part of your Terms of Employment.

Even though your company requested that you attend training, and offered to pay for it doesn't make much difference.

In employment law, the company can claim the money from you only if you have a transferrable skill. Really this means that if your training could benefit yourself or a future employer, then they can claim it back from you.

However, if you have used your recent training in connection with your work, then it becomes a little more difficult for them to take anything back off you. This all boils down to the fact whether or not your company has benefitted from your recent training.

If they have, then they can't really justify taking money off you.

If you do decide to leave under a cloud, and they insist on taking the money out of your final wages - you may wish to consider launching a case under Employment Tribunal rules. You can get an ETB1 form from the Employment Tribunal website or your local CAB.

If you are still going through your training, then only the portion you have taken may be in question. ie: if you have only completed half, then your employer can only claim half off you.

Hopefully that makes a bit of sense for you, but to be on the safe side I would recommend getting into see your local Citizens Advice ASAP.

Good luck.

Adam

This thread is now in "Training & Apprenticeships" forum

It is purely an administrative move.