Is this normal?

redundant

I went to the first stage of an assessment centre this morning. The job was a call centre position with a major UK employer. I was shocked when it emerged if I decided to leave, or they decided to terminate my employment within the first three months, they would charge me £400. Between months three and six, a termination of employment by either myself or the company would result in a charge of £200. I've never worked in this type of call centre before so I'm not 100 per cent sure I would prove proficient at the job. Nor could I say that if an opportunity to move back into my own profession emerged during the first six months of my employment with the company, |I wouldn't take it. Is it normal for companies to charge employees in this way if the employee leaves or the company terminates their contract within the first 24 weeks?

[Deleted User]

I've had this once before but whether is actually gets persued is another matter, as I found out, that said it really wasn't a charge of thousands of pounds!

I was in a call centre (just an operator) where over a year we had different percents of the training charge repayable if we were to leave with these lowering as time would have war'd on, must say none of it seemed to stand up in the end despite there being a stick and a seperate agreement though I would have been prepared to pay back - honestly never heard anymore about it, though they still don't make it known in their recruitment ad's before interviewing to this day, grrrr!

Missme

It would be interesting to hear from others how such a scheme works in practice.

If you skip off, I can understand a company wanting to recoup their investment in up-skilling you.

If they decide you are not for them then they made the wrong decision at interview ans I don't believe you should be penalised for that.

In some organisations, an interview is just a box-ticking exercise. Bums are needed on seats and the process must appear fair and transparent. If a candidate has been honest and gained employment accordingly, I don't see that the employer has any basis for a claim.

redundant

It was included in the list of terms and conditions along with the dress code, holiday entitlement etc. The Manager of the relevant section of the call centre said it was because they reckoned you didn't actually start to make money for them until between three and six months so basically (I paraphrase) if you left you had given them nothing and they wanted back the training costs. It definitely said this money was due whether you terminated or they terminated.

agrinnall

I'm sure somebody who knows more about it than me will comment, but my reading on here has led me to believe that costs of training can be recouped, but only if it is specified in an agreement signed by you that is separate to the employment contract.

Jobseeeker

yes its common in jobs where there is a high turnover of staff such as call centre