Being chased by ex employer for repayment of study fees

Emmzi

Bob, it depends how specialised the work is, the time period, and the geographic area. Commonly used in things like telecomms or IT support sales, it is there to stop someone lifting the entire customer base. Some are enforceable.

In accountancy, such a clause may be valid as no one wants their client base leaving with one of the staff. And fair enough - the staff member hasn't taken the financial risk of setting up the practice. advertising, etc.

Perelandra

I think there's two different "agreements" here- as I read it:

The original employment contract, in which the OP agreed to reimburse he employer the qualification costs if (s)he left employment early. This is the basis on which the money is owed (and which ultimately, if it came to it, any further legal action would be taken).

The document that was signed on leaving- whether signed under duress or not- was the payment plan that was agreed with the OP.

So the employment contract (which, presumably, wasn't signed under any form of duress) establishes that the debt is owed, the "leaving" document establishes how the OP is going to pay that debt. Contract terms like this are very standard for finance professionals (I have had them in my employment contracts myself).

Having said this-

If your contract *required* you to take this training in order to get employment, then combined with the comments LazyDaisy made, you may be able to negotiate a lower debt amount with your former employer.

I feel you will probably have to pay this debt, however I fully sympathise with the OP having also been in a position with an ex-employer where in my original contract I had agreed to repay certain amounts, but then felt hat the employer was not treating me fairly whilst I was in the job.

bris

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

I thought such restrictions were unenforceable, following a case, many years ago, where a group of milkmen set up a business, in competition with the dairy they used to work for?

IIRC. The court determined that such a post termination covenant was a restriction on the right to work.

This isn't a restrictive covenant, it's a clause to pay back time and money spent training the OP in the event of him leaving early . This is perfectly legal.

Bob you are clearly connected to the OP as everything you are saying is nonsense and looking for a way out for him that just isn't there.

[Deleted User]

bris wrote: »

This isn't a restrictive covenant, it's a clause to pay back time and money spent training the OP in the event of him leaving early.

I was referring to this.

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

OP, just out of interest, did you also have a post termination covenant prohibiting you working for a competitor within a defined radius/time period?

Bob you are clearly connected to the OP

I don't know the OP from Adam.

inmypocketnottheirs

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

I don't know the OP from Adam.

I do. Adam is my brother and he isn't an accountant. It seems as if a lot of people don't know him. I guess he has got some friends somewhere though.

magpiecottage

What I do not understand is why the OP left their job when they knew they owed money without first ensuring they would be in a position to clear the debt.

Whether an accountant or an auditor I would have expected them to understand this principle!

bigadaj

magpiecottage wrote: »

What I do not understand is why the OP left their job when they knew they owed money without first ensuring they would be in a position to clear the debt.

Whether an accountant or an auditor I would have expected them to understand this principle!

Just an example of people in finance not understanding financial arrangements possibly, which is how we got into the current mess.

londonTiger

bigadaj wrote: »

Just an example of people in finance not understanding financial arrangements possibly, which is how we got into the current mess.

actually I remember watching a michelin star chef talk about his own eating habits, he was saying after a long days hard work, he prefers to get a double cheeseburger from maccy dees than go home and cook for himself all over again.

So often people who do something professionally may not be able to transfer that into their own lives.

bear in mind, trainee accountants are grossly underpaid, I dunno why, but the accountancy profession gets a rep as being lucrative and stuff, but I know people whove been doing it for 5 years and only make £30K working for big firms.

Dunroamin

IKE25 wrote: »

It's an auditing qualification as opposed to an accountancy one, which I subsequently completed six months after I left.

You seem to have missed the point!

RobertoMoir

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

You and I know they can't prevent someone from leaving, but the OP is/was quite young, and likely intimidated by "authority".

Oh please. You're now moving on to threats and intimidation based on just a few lines in an internet post. Give me a break. None of us know what actually happened, do we?