Can my employer make me pay for my NVQ

lovehearts321

I work in childcare and recently received a letter from my employer stating that I must do an NVQ level 3 in childcare, that this is not optional training and it is an OFSTED requirement.

I am due to start this course soon and the course costs £1500. The employer will pay the fee, however they state that if I leave my job in the next two years after completing the NVQ, I will have to pay them back.

Can they enforce this? I have no immediate intentions to leave, however it feels like I am being held to ransom. I am being forced to do the course, since its an OFSTED requirement but then will have to pay for it if I leave them?!?

Can anyone provide any advice?

DomRavioli

lovehearts321 wrote: »

I work in childcare and recently received a letter from my employer stating that I must do an NVQ level 3 in childcare, that this is not optional training and it is an OFSTED requirement.

I am due to start this course soon and the course costs £1500. The employer will pay the fee, however they state that if I leave my job in the next two years after completing the NVQ, I will have to pay them back.

Can they enforce this? I have no immediate intentions to leave, however it feels like I am being held to ransom. I am being forced to do the course, since its an OFSTED requirement but then will have to pay for it if I leave them?!?

Can anyone provide any advice?

Yes, they can enforce this. They are protecting their investment by paying for your training, if you leave you are free to do so, but you must pay back the training fees. Pretty standard to be fair in most industries and at most levels.

You aren't being held to ransom - they are saying you can pay for it yourself, or we can pay for it on the condition that you stay for a minimum of two years afterwards to protect our investment in you.

McKneff

I dont see a Problem to be honest . Its not as if they are asking you to actually pay for it up front

You have a Choice but it will probably be the same anywhere else.

Are you sure it is 2 years after completion. How lng is the Nvq course

kingfisherblue

Look at it another way - why should they pay and not benefit? If you leave, then they may have to pay again for the person who takes your place.

If you were the employer, would you want to pay out to train people up and then have them leave without you recouping any costs?

agrinnall

Nobody is forcing you to do the NVQ, you could choose to leave your job and work in a different field and then the problem would go away. However, if you want to remain in childcare then what your employer is proposing is perfectly reasonable.

bouicca21

Pretty well standard in my experience. You get the benefit of a qualification that makes you more marketable, the employer makes sure they also get a benefit. Much more important to check what sort of study time you will be allowed.

jobbingmusician

As others have said - standard procedure. However, it sounds as if it may be a first for your employer. What I would suggest to them is that (even though you are not thinking of leaving) the repayment before 2 years should be on a sliding scale. If you left just before 2 years are up, you should not have to pay the entire amount as they will have had almost 2 years of qualified work out of you. To balance this, you could also ask them if NVQs at a higher level will be available once the 2 years have passed (point out that these will impress OFSTED).

bugslet

jobbingmusician wrote: »

As others have said - standard procedure. However, it sounds as if it may be a first for your employer. What I would suggest to them is that (even though you are not thinking of leaving) the repayment before 2 years should be on a sliding scale. If you left just before 2 years are up, you should not have to pay the entire amount as they will have had almost 2 years of qualified work out of you.

That's what we do at our place. If you leave within 6 months it's repaying the whole lot, after a year 50%. 18 months it's 25%.

OP, if you think about it, your employer pays £1500.00 for your training and you leave within a week, it's really not fair on them. I know you say you aren't going to leave, but other employees might and that's why these repayment schemes have evolved.

Guest101

lovehearts321 wrote: »

I work in childcare and recently received a letter from my employer stating that I must do an NVQ level 3 in childcare, that this is not optional training and it is an OFSTED requirement.

I am due to start this course soon and the course costs £1500. The employer will pay the fee, however they state that if I leave my job in the next two years after completing the NVQ, I will have to pay them back.

Can they enforce this? I have no immediate intentions to leave, however it feels like I am being held to ransom. I am being forced to do the course, since its an OFSTED requirement but then will have to pay for it if I leave them?!?

Can anyone provide any advice?

Yes, absolutely.

maisie_cat

This is pretty standard and for good reason, I had a colleague years ago who did an MBA at Imperial, it cost our employer £30k or so
She left just before she completed it, to jump into a new role with her shiny new MBA. HR didn't think to put a clawback in place, something they always did for the trainee Accountants. It left a bad feeling and nobody else got to do an MBA after that

TBagpuss

as others have said, it is fiarly standard for employers to have provisions requiring you re repay costs if you leave within a certain time, where the training is to obtain a qualification which is transferrable.

it is quite common for the repayment to be stepped - e.g. if you leave within the first 12 months to be required to repay in full, if you leave in the second 12 months to pay 50% or something similar.

I think that to be enforceable the condition has to be in writing and that you have to have signed to agree to it, but double check.

Also, if this is a requirement for your role then it is less reasonable for them to expect you to repay it, and might be harder for them to enforce the agreement.

However, there are parctical issues - how easy would it be for them to replace you with someone who already has this qualification? Are they currently paying you less then the normal rate for someone who is qaulified (or are you going to get a pay rise once you complete the training)

If you are asked to sign a written agreement about the claw back read it carefully and make sure that you understand its effect before signing. You might want to suggest that it is worded so that you only have to pay back the training costs if you leave voluntarily or are sacked for miscoduct, not if you are made redundant, for instance.

If there is nothing in your exisiting contract about repaying training costs, and they have not asked you to sign an agreement now, then even though they have stated that they will seek repayment if you leave, that might well be unenforceable, in which case your best bet may to simply do the training and have that conversation if you do leave within the next 2 years!