Help- Employment And Pay Problems.. Can They Do This? Please Help Us!

[redissert]

Hi all,

 

My partner worked for a company for 2 years + and they recently paid for him to do HGV training, which he did. He was offered a better job about 3 months after he passed, which he has taken. We were aware he would owe the full cost of the training, and expected it.

 

He gave his employer 2 weeks notice a couple of weeks ago. I told him to ask his manager to find out when and how they would be reclaiming this money. His manager spoke to someone at Head Office or Payroll I presume, and assured me OH that he would still get full pay at the end of this month for the time he has worked this month, since last payday on 26th Sept, so it should have been over £600 (he left on Friday). He told Ryan that they would be sending him a letter etc. stating how much he owed and how to pay.

 

Friday came, and his manager is on holiday. His Deputy manager decided on the off chance (supposedly) to call Payroll/ HO to find out that this was definitely the case, only to be told no- they will not be paying my OH anything- they will be taking it all off what he owes (just over £1000). Same with this month's overtime that should be paid at the end of November.

 

Now I read somewhere on the internet that this isn't legal BUT he obtained a copy of what he signed. Here it is....

 

Final Loan Agreement

 

************ (company name)

************ (OH's name)

 

In Consideration of the company paying for my training as a Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) driver, I ********* confirm that I will undertake training as an LGV driver and accept the loan agreement as set out below.

 

Should I leave the employment for whatever reason, excluding redundancy, within two years of the date of completion of the training, I hereby authorise ************** to deduct the amount stipulated in a, b or c below, directly from any monies due to me as at the date of leaving, including salary, bonus and person entitlements. If the monies referred to above do not cover the amount owed, I understand that I am responsible for paying the shortfall.

 

a. If I leave within 6 months from the date of completion of training, I will repay 75% of the total cost of training at £1,026.38

 

b. If I leave within a period of 6-12 months, inclusive from the date of completion of training, I will repay 50% of the total cost of training at £684.25

 

c. If I leave within 1- 2 years of the date of completion of training I will repay 30% of the total cost of training at £410.55

 

NOTE: The Branch Manager will be responsible for advising the Payroll Dept. at ******** should this employee leave within the time stated at a-c above.

 

My OH has then signed and dated it, as did the training admin manager.

 

So really, do we have a leg to stand on? We are going to be so screwed- no money for bills, direct debits, food, diesel etc. and we have a young daughter of 1 year old.

 

HELP!

 

And why did his manager tell him differently at the START of his notice? ARGH!

[Bigmac versus]

Sorry i cant guide you any further except that the same thing happened where i used to work and yes it was taken off any wages due at the time of leaving.

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, I'm afraid it looks like a standard training costs agreement.

 

In most cases, an employer can only lawfully make a deduction from an employee’s pay if the deduction is:-

• required to be made by law. For example, employers are required to deduct tax and national insurance from their employee’s pay by law; or
  
• allowed for by the employee’s contract. This means that there must be a specific clause in the contract which allows for that particular deduction to be made. The deduction can then only be made lawfully if the employee is given a written copy of that term in the contract before any deduction is made under it. This would cover deductions such as union dues or payments to a pension scheme; or
  
• the deduction has been agreed to in writing by the employee before it is deducted.

It might be worth trying to negotiate with your employer by explaining the financial hardship this will cause you and asking them to deduct, say, half of the amount and accept the rest by 2 or 3 installments. It's worth a try, in my opinion.

 

I'm sorry I can't be more positive - but if you don't ask you'll never know.........

 

Please keep us posted about what happens.

 

Kind Regards

 

Ell-enn

[redissert]

Oh damn,

 

Knew it was right... just p*ssed off that they told him differently at the beginning of his notice period, then someone else tells him that on the last day he works there! He called them today, they said they have alreayd deducted it- he doesn't veen get paid til 26th which is 11 days away... I am so annoyed!!!!!!

[Ell-enn]

Depending on how they run their payroll, the deduction may only have been calculated and would then just need an adjustment before being sent by BACS. If you are paid on the 26th then the BACS run would probably be made around the 23rd or 24th.

 

I would still ask them to consider a payment arrangement - it would probably only take someone making the effort to alter the payroll. From experience payroll administrators don't like making adjustments once they have done their calculations - but that doesn't mean it can't be done!!

 

Hope you get a result... please let me know how you get on

 

Kind regards,

Ell-enn

If I have been of any help, please feel free to tip my scales.

[calm1]

I can't help you much. The one thing I would suggest is that you contact everyone that you owe money to and try to negotiate a late payment before everything starts to bounce. These institutions are not very nice, but a lot of the poeple you speak to are human and will understand your situation - more often than not they are following guidelines. You may find that some of them are happy to just know what is going on and will be more lenient with regard to a late payment or to.

 

The best part is that your OH has a better job to go to - far better than the circumstances he would have faced following redundancy.

 

I hope it works out for you, I am sure it will.