Is this legal?

zzzLazyDaisy

bert&ernie wrote: »

Which I believe would be an illegal deduction.

Unless his contract contains a deductions clause, which it probably does.

bert&ernie

pitkin2020 wrote: »

most companies have legal departments to ensure they are within the letter of the law, like i said this is a standard golden handcuff contract, as to whether they can legally inforce the OP to take the course is a different matter, legislation may be a part of whether the education requirement is part of the job or not, i dont know.
But any company who invests in its staff and that what this is an investment want a return, or everybody would be wanting the training and then just leave after qualifying

I think we are in agreement with regard to the general principle that an employer should be able to recover its investment in training. However, I don't that the agreement should include what amounts to a penalty clause that punishes employee for breaching the agreement.

Whether it is legal on not comes down to a point of law, one that it would appear neither of us is able to offer a qualified opinion on.However, I do think you are being a little naive in assuming that, because a contract is "standard" or may have been glanced over by an in house legal department, it is "within the letter of the law"

bert&ernie

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

Unless his contract contains a deductions clause, which it probably does.

I believe most contracts do have some kind of general deductions clause, but I wouldn't be sure that it would include training costs. The agreement in the OP doesn't explicitly include consent to deduct money from salary.

Definitely something worth checking though.

pitkin2020

bert&ernie wrote: »

I think we are in agreement with regard to the general principle that an employer should be able to recover its investment in training. However, I don't that the agreement should include what amounts to a penalty clause that punishes employee for breaching the agreement.

Whether it is legal on not comes down to a point of law, one that it would appear neither of us is able to offer a qualified opinion on.However, I do think you are being a little naive in assuming that, because a contract is "standard" or may have been glanced over by an in house legal department, it is "within the letter of the law"

im not being naive, i cant offer a proffessional opinion only an experience, i left after 6 months of completing a course with an employer, contract for was 12 months contract was identical to the OP and lets say i lost the case, solicitor advised to me pay rather than go to court as i was in breach of contract, thats why they have these contracts to fall back on not just to waste paper

Savvy_Sue

Going back to why they want him to take this qualification, it may be that they need to have a % of staff qualified to the higher level so want as many as possible to do it before their stats don't look good.

[Deleted User]

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Going back to why they want him to take this qualification, it may be that they need to have a % of staff qualified to the higher level so want as many as possible to do it before their stats don't look good.

True and employers can get into a lot of trouble for having an unqualified workforce. Skills for Care & GSCC now demand social workers are qualified, continue to train and are only in certain posts if they have specific training. By regisistering as a social worker you agree to to this, failure to do this can lose you your registration and ultimately your job.

liney

To be fair the benefit is that he keeps his job. If the professional requirement is that he has X qualification and he refuses to update his skills then i am sure they could justify in letting him go on that basis.

zzzLazyDaisy

OP, how long has OH worked for this employer? If he has less than 1yr service he has very little protection under the law if his employer decides to terminate his contract.

Zazen999

bert&ernie wrote: »

I believe most contracts do have some kind of general deductions clause, but I wouldn't be sure that it would include training costs. The agreement in the OP doesn't explicitly include consent to deduct money from salary.

Definitely something worth checking though.

I've found if a company have thought through the 'pay back training' clause then they have usually got the 'allowable deductions' clause. Both usually go hand in hand and would be recommended by any HR professional.