Repay training costs?

gary1983

Hello,
I've got a question I'm hoping people can help me with. Apologies for the length of this post, but I need to include a lot of detail to give the context.
Approximately 1 year ago I joined a company on one of their training schemes. The scheme involved placements in various parts of the business together with an external qualification. We were placed in roles that we would return to at the end of the training scheme.
It became apparent to me and four of the other trainees that the roles we had been placed in were not suitable for us. I disliked the role I had been given because it was the opposite of my skill set; I didn't use any of the skills and experience I had learnt at university or in my previous 10 years of work experience; however within the company there were many vacancies that used my skill set.
Despite receiving the external training, I am not competent in the role I have been given and am finding the situation very stressful and depressing.
During discussions with the head of the course it was agreed that our job roles were not suitable and that we would be able to move to more suitable roles at the end of the course. This happened to the other four people but I was not allowed to move. My move was blocked by my senior line manager for reasons that have not been explained to me. I have tried to contact this person but they’ve ignored my emails, don’t answer their phone and work in an office 100+ miles away. I have spoken to someone in HR who has promised to get this individual to communicate with me but to no avail.
Due to these problems I feel that I have no alternative but to leave. I have had an interview and been offered a job in different company.
The problem I have got is that my contract stated that if I left before 2 years I would have to repay the external training fees which are in the region of £4000. Although this will be possible it will cause me some hardship and I will have to take out a loan to cover it.
My question is can they legally make me repay the fees?
As a side point; I’m not sure if I have a case against them for constructive dismissal. I certainly feel like I’ve been forced out. Would anyone be able to advise on this situation?
Many thanks
Gary

keyser666

Yes is the simple answer

gary1983

Thanks. I spoke with the citizens advice bureau and they thought it was likely that legally I could be made to pay. When I discussed the case they recommeded making a formal grievance about my work situation. I don't really want to go that route but might do if they start getting nasty.
I've heard from other people that the organisation generally doesn't make people pay the training costs back but likes to have the threat to keep people there.
It seems that I should have made a formal grivance earlier rather than sort it out amicably.

ValHaller

Go down the formal grievance route. In writing.

Effectively, the repayment deal makes it cost effective for them to keep you on only to sack you after the 2 years on competence grounds. I am not sure how this might play out, but I think you would do well to have something on the record now.

Funky_Bold_Ribena

Not necessarily, I believe that there has to be a signed agreement, not just a clause in the contract...

http://employment.laytons.com/contracts-of-employment/recovery-of-training-fees.asp

gary1983

Thanks for the link. It does look very interesting, in particular these two sections.
In fact, provisions of this nature should be contained in a separate agreement to the contract of employment. This is to ensure that, as far as possible, the validity of a separate loan agreement for the recovery of training fees will not be affected if the employer has deliberately or inadvertently breached the contract of employment....
...The agreement should also contain a sliding scale of repayment whereby the amount which is to be repaid reduces according to the length of time the employee remains with the employer after the training has been completed.
There is no sliding scale, if you leave before 2 years its the full fee. The training they have provided is specific to the industry, which I doubt I will ever work in again.
I've checked out the formal grievance route. In order to do this I've got to make a written complaint to my line manager. They then have to arrange a hearing within a set period of time. There's very little information on what happens after that.
I'll let you know how I get on.

Funky_Bold_Ribena

Is there an actual separate signed agreement?

gary1983

Funky_Bold_Ribena wrote: »

Is there an actual separate signed agreement?

There is not.
I received several documents. One was a letter that included details of the training costs and the repayment clause. In addition to that there was a second document entitled terms and conditions, this did not include any reference to the training costs or even mention the offer letter.
The document I sent back to confirm I would take the job included a declaration that I would take the job and accept the terms and conditions.

marybelle01

But the actual job was a training scheme you said? So the entire nature of the "job" was that it was a traineeship? That is different from the sort of training agreement for someone who has a job and THEN goes on to agree training with their employer. I am not so sure that the advice you are getting here is relevant to the latter scenario instead of your own. I would suggest you get some proper legal advice and not depend on well-intentioned posters on a forum.

gary1983

marybelle01 wrote: »

But the actual job was a training scheme you said? So the entire nature of the "job" was that it was a traineeship? That is different from the sort of training agreement for someone who has a job and THEN goes on to agree training with their employer. I am not so sure that the advice you are getting here is relevant to the latter scenario instead of your own. I would suggest you get some proper legal advice and not depend on well-intentioned posters on a forum.

It wasn't an actual trainee scheme. It was a job with a large element of training but not a trainee scheme as such. I had heard that people previously had dropped out of the training but continued working there.

marybelle01

gary1983 wrote: »

It wasn't an actual trainee scheme. It was a job with a large element of training but not a trainee scheme as such. I had heard that people previously had dropped out of the training but continued working there.

You said that you joined the company on one of their training schemes. So that would suggest it was an actual training scheme. Which is it?