My right to leave an employer ?

smallzoo

My 22yr old daughter has worked as a nursery nurse for a Nursery for 3 years part-time ( 25 hrs per week ).

In October last year they said as part of the new government regulations she had to re-sit her English.Maths and ICT even though she already has 13 GCSE's(incl maths,english,ICT) and 5 A Levels(incl English) otherwise she couldnt work there. They said government regulations stated if it was more than 3 years since she passed them ( it was 3 years and a few months ) she would have to do them again !

Anyway , they are now saying to her that she cannot leave the Nursery until all the exams are completed and passed otherwise she will have to pay back all the course costs, even if they were required.

Surely this is wrong. She already has plans to start another job but gets really stressed thinking she cant as they might slap her with a big bill

Am I being naive or is she being treated unfairly

Thanks

w00519772

Check the Contract of Employment. In my contract of employment it clearly states that I must repay training fees if I leave within two years.

If it states that you have to repay training costs then that is what you have agreed to do.

pinpin

Can't she leave, get a new job, and then claim to have no money and see if she can get away with paying them like £10 per month or something very low....?....

stevemLS

I think she should ask her employers what are these Regulations that require O levels to be retaken every three years of which they speak.

Exactly what Regulations. Show us the Statutory Instrument.

I strongly suspect they are talking complete horseshit.

And if they have misled her into going on course by these fantasy Regs, she will be liable to repay nothing.

This overview of the legislation around nurseries mentions no such requirement https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335504/EYFS_framework_from_1_September_2014__with_clarification_note.pdf

HappyMJ

smallzoo wrote: »

My 22yr old daughter has worked as a nursery nurse for a Nursery for 3 years part-time ( 25 hrs per week ).

In October last year they said as part of the new government regulations she had to re-sit her English.Maths and ICT even though she already has 13 GCSE's(incl maths,english,ICT) and 5 A Levels(incl English) otherwise she couldnt work there. They said government regulations stated if it was more than 3 years since she passed them ( it was 3 years and a few months ) she would have to do them again !

Anyway , they are now saying to her that she cannot leave the Nursery until all the exams are completed and passed otherwise she will have to pay back all the course costs, even if they were required.

Surely this is wrong. She already has plans to start another job but gets really stressed thinking she cant as they might slap her with a big bill

Am I being naive or is she being treated unfairly

Thanks

I'd leave...the day I was paid. I'd just walk out. Then let them try and reclaim any costs through court and they can also claim for damages for not giving notice. They might...they might not. Let them try. If she has nothing it's a waste of money trying court action against her so probably won't bother. If they do raise a county court claim defend it all the way. She'll have 28 days to pay a judgement for it not to affect her credit rating. Or she can decide not to pay it and ask for a tiny weekly payment from her wages in her next job. It'll stop affecting her after 6 years when the record is removed from her credit report. I don't think they'll do that but just wanted to warn you just in case. If they do I'd also call the local newspaper and see if they can write something.

DandelionPatrol

smallzoo wrote: »

My 22yr old daughter has worked as a nursery nurse for a Nursery for 3 years part-time ( 25 hrs per week ).

In October last year they said as part of the new government regulations she had to re-sit her English.Maths and ICT even though she already has 13 GCSE's(incl maths,english,ICT) and 5 A Levels(incl English) otherwise she couldnt work there. They said government regulations stated if it was more than 3 years since she passed them ( it was 3 years and a few months ) she would have to do them again !

Anyway , they are now saying to her that she cannot leave the Nursery until all the exams are completed and passed otherwise she will have to pay back all the course costs, even if they were required.

Surely this is wrong. She already has plans to start another job but gets really stressed thinking she cant as they might slap her with a big bill

Am I being naive or is she being treated unfairly

Thanks

If the bolded bit is not true, then they have enrolled her on courses under a falsehood. Under such circumstances, I think she might win a fight over repayment.

Carefully preserve any evidence that she was told it was a government requirement for her to take these courses and check out whether the claim is false or true.

Another avenue is that for repayment to be enforceable, I believe that the employee has to sign for it explicitly.

smallzoo

This was their reply to a similar question I sent them a few months ago

"As you will be aware as part of the apprenticeship framework all learners have to meet a minimum level in their Maths, English and ICT skills. There are transferable qualifications which we can use which exempts the learner from completing any of these qualifications as part of their framework.

I have attached the guidance ( from Children and Young
People's Workforce (England) 2014 ) which lists the transferable qualifications and the guidance that we have to work towards. As you can see on page 38 & 39 they have stated if the GCSE’s are achieved before September 2012 and within the 5 years immediately prior to starting an Apprenticeship they can be used as a transferable qualification. This guidance is at the end of the list denoted by the *"



She obtained her 13 GCSE's in June 2009 which is 5 years and 4 months according to the guidance they keep quoting her

HappyMJ

What a load of *****... so she's doing an apprenticeship and they don't count qualifications unless you've completed them in the last 5 years. I don't either but come on. A GCSE isn't worth anything once you've got an A-Level and an A-Level hasn't got any value once you've got a university degree. She probably doesn't get paid much. I'd still leave and chance it.

DandelionPatrol

So was she employed as an apprentice?
What was the scheme she was employed under?
And is it true that the minimum level at which she could work there was apprentice?

smallzoo

Basically they said to her that she needed to get an NVQ. If she didnt then if there were redundancies she would be the first to go.

If they had accepted her previous qualifications she could have gone for a NVQ Level 3 with more pay and career possibilities in the Nursery but she was forced to go for an NVQ Level 2.

Once she started that she then was told she couldnt leave without paying the fees back

I hope that makes sense

tomtontom

She wasn't forced to do anything - she was given the option of completing a qualification or being dismissed. Not ethical, but certainly not unlawful.

Their information on her GCSEs is correct. Bizarre, but correct.

They can't force her to stay - no one can be forced to work. Whether they can enforce the course costs will depend on her training agreement.