Ex-Employer chasing course fees

RJH88

My ex-employers put me on an Accountancy course in Jan 2014 and are now chasing me to repay them the amount, however there is nothing stating this in my contract nor did I sign any agreement whilst I there. I disputed this with them because I feel they are using the course to tie employees to the company, the cost being over £2k more than I would have paid if I went through my old college, however they pushed me to go with their course provider and even tried signing me up to the next course level shortly before I left. They have already deducted a large amount from my final salary leaving me with almost nothing on leaving. Since I notified them of the dispute I now have a debt collection agency chasing my stating its in regards to an 'outstanding invoice'. I have responded stating the debt is 'in dispute' and asked for them to supply a copy of the true agreement as per the consumer credit act 1974. Do I have a case to dispute if they take it to court?

David301

Was going on the course a condition of being hired?

RJH88

No it wasn't

David301

Why did you need to go on the course then? Did you receive anything after the course? A rise? a promotion? a new skill set?

RJH88

It's an Accountancy course and I work in Finance, it's standard practise to study towards a qualification whilst working in Accountancy/Finance. Obviously I hope to one day be fully qualified.
I am still studying the course due to finish in the next 2 months, there was no promise of any rise/promotion, etc should I still be there when completing although of course I would gain further knowledge on completion.

Poppy9

I work LA and if we are supported on a course we sign a form stating we may have to repay if we leave within a specified period. This is part of the form we complete asking for support. Did you not have to sign anything, or is it built into your contract of employment.

RJH88

Yea that seems to be what most companies do, of course if they did the same I would have thoroughly read the agreement and considered going alone and not though my company should the terms not suit me, although I can assure you there was no agreement and nothing at all in my contract regarding studying fee repayments (it was first thing I checked) with the exception of a statement saying if I become qualified whilst working there my notice period would increase from 1 month to 3.

PeacefulWaters

If there's no contractual requirement to repay there's nothing they can do.

Where I've worked there has always been a 36 month leaving clause requiring employees to repay a percentage of training costs like the ones you describe.

Are you sure you don't have such a condition in your contract with them?

RJH88

100% sure, believe me I have checked at least 20 times.

That's exactly what I thought, however, they have still passed the alleged debt to a debt collection agency who are chasing it.

Are they chasing it with the hope they can scare me into paying with threats of legal action?

Vectis

RJH88 wrote: »

It's an Accountancy course and I work in Finance, it's standard practise to study towards a qualification whilst working in Accountancy/Finance. Obviously I hope to one day be fully qualified.
I am still studying the course due to finish in the next 2 months, there was no promise of any rise/promotion, etc should I still be there when completing although of course I would gain further knowledge on completion.

So, you're still studying on the accountancy course which the company has paid for?

Why do you think you shouldn't pay for it having now left the company? Why do you think the company should pay for something that is of no benefit to them now that you've left?

I'd be really surprised if you haven't signed something, maybe an agreement after your initial contract of employment. Either way, if it was me I'd pay for the course as it was me who was going to get the qualification.

RJH88

Mainly because they pushed me to on the a course that's 4 x the cost of what I would have paid than if chose to continue studying alone as I had done for 2 years before joining them. If I chose to go alone I would have paid roughly the amount they (illegally) deducted from my final salary. In my eyes we are even and and their attempt to tie me to the company was unsuccessful because I DID NOT sign anything and it was not mentioned in my contract. They will obviously be unhappy with this, but so was I when I found out how much the course has supposedly cost and I wasn't going to be getting paid in my last month because of it.

I am asking, based on the information I have already provided, legally do I have to pay them back?