forced to pay for company training

[tt31]

i have been employed by a company for 3 years and was recently put on a zero hours contract.

 

i found out today that to continue working for the company i must pay for a 300 pound training course, if i do not gain this qualification by early next year i will not be able to work for the company anymore.

 

my job will not change with this qualification, i teach fitness classes, and i do not work for any other companies so i will not gain anything from this qualification.

 

Is this legal? I really cant afford the training course and its only purpose is to improve the image of the company by saying we are trained to a higher level.

 

Any help would be realy appreciated

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

The forum guys should be along later with advice for you, please bear with us until they're able to get here.

 

My best, HB

[ericsbrother]

why did you accept a zero hours contract if you were employed before this? More details and background needed to be able to determine your actual employment status for starters.

[tt31]

thank you for replying.

 

we were told that the terms of the previous contract were to be changed and if we wanted to keep working for the company then we had to sign it before a certain date.

 

we are paid per class and we usually only teach 1-2 classes a day in the evening. this means most instructors have full time jobs away from fitness in the day and don't rely on the money

 

due to this, most instructors didn't want any hassle and signed the contract

 

I however rely on the money so signed the contract as I thought I would be fired.

 

I appreciate that was probably very naïve

 

there is nothing in the contract about paying for training courses, by ourselves or the company

 

there is no guarantee we will be offered work and there is an exclusivity clause which prevents us working for similar companies and this extends after termination of contract for 3 months

 

if you need more information I will happily provide it,

 

Best,

[G G GEE]

there is no guarantee we will be offered work and there is an exclusivity clause which prevents us working for similar companies and this extends after termination of contract for 3 months

 

 

Those kind of exclusivity clauses in a zero hours contract that guarantee no hours will soon be illegal.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/zero-hours-employment-contracts-exclusivity-clause-ban-avoidance