Claw back clause too long?

Super_Whiskey

My work are putting me on a 1 year course which they'll cover the course costs for (about £5k) however they have said that they'll have a 3 year clawback clause starting from the date the course starts should I leave. The company's policy says that any training costs usually have a 1 one year clawback which reduces depending on the date the course starts.

Given the cost of the course I can see why they'd want a longer time frame to recover any costs, I've got no intention of leaving so it shouldn't be an issue but I just wanted to see if anyone else might have any thoughts on it? I assume given the clause I shouldn't be deterred from asking for future pay rises?

74jax

Is the payment going down every 6 months or is it full 5k at any point, even if you leave after 2.5yrs?
If so I'm not sure I'd sign up to that. 

Super_Whiskey

I'd assume it'd go down as time progressed as yes paying £5k in full after 2.5yrs is a definite no go! I'm expecting HR to produce a letter in the new year so will know the details before signing up to it.

ToxicWomble

I would definitely get clarification.

Never assume anything

getmore4less

Get a clause in that it only applies if you resign.
Try terminated for any other reason it does not apply including if you die or are too sick to work.
if they won' agree to that  a good leaver clause in so they can't reclaim if they make you redundant/VR and anything else you can think of like a transfer or TUPE.

get the repayment terms clarified with a reasonable sliding scale  if it is a 1 year course you are looking at 2 years overhang. 

Depending on how much value you bring tot he company from the course you could look as various sliding scales.

KatrinaWaves

getmore4less said:

Get a clause in that it only applies if you resign.
Try terminated for any other reason it does not apply including if you die or are too sick to work.
if they won' agree to that  a good leaver clause in so they can't reclaim if they make you redundant/VR and anything else you can think of like a transfer or TUPE.

get the repayment terms clarified with a reasonable sliding scale  if it is a 1 year course you are looking at 2 years overhang. 

Depending on how much value you bring tot he company from the course you could look as various sliding scales.

They’ll never agree to only on resignation. They will 100% want a claw back in cases of gross misconduct also. Otherwise you wouldn’t resign youd just call your boss a few choice names and be sacked, hurrah no claw back... 

Super_Whiskey

I'd expect the clause to only apply if I were to leave the firm. A sliding scale is what I'd be after as opposed to paying it all back at any point during the 3 year period as they'll be benefitting from the course over those 3 years through improved knowledge and working practices.

I'm not trying to stitch the company up, I just want it to be fair and whether a 3 year period where they could reclaim the cost of the course if i leave is reasonable!

Thanks all, I may be back depending on what the terms are!

General_Grant

Super_Whiskey said:

I'd expect the clause to only apply if I were to leave the firm. A sliding scale is what I'd be after as opposed to paying it all back at any point during the 3 year period as they'll be benefitting from the course over those 3 years through improved knowledge and working practices.

I'm not trying to stitch the company up, I just want it to be fair and whether a 3 year period where they could reclaim the cost of the course if i leave is reasonable!

Thanks all, I may be back depending on what the terms are!

You would be "leaving the firm" if they dismissed you as well as if you resigned.  
It would eventually be interesting to know what conditions are attached.