Can an organisation force an ex-employee to repay their training fees? Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Martin Brewer, partner and employment law specialist at Mills and Reeve, offer legal advice.
The question:
Having just left an organisation to take up a new role, I have been asked by my old company to repay the course fees.
The repayment is acknowledged and I do not have an issue with this. However the company are now saying that the fees must be repaid by 31 March 2007. However the ‘contract’ I signed did not have any repayment periods specified at all. I was hoping they would have been open to negotiation to make the repayments over a longer term, however they refuse and are threatening legal proceedings if I do not acknowledge that I will repay by the end of march.
I was not made aware of any customs by the company to repay by the start of the financial year. I also thought that a signed contract could not have terms added to it once it had been originally signed?
Any thoughts or directions would be much appreciated.
Nick Howell
Legal advice:
Martin Brewer, partner and employment law specialist, Mills and Reeve
The problem you have is that if no future date for repayment is specified in the contract, the default position is that repayment is due immediately. Therefore in the circumstances the offer of delay until 31 March doesn’t seem unreasonable.
Martin can be contacted at: martin.brewer@mills-reeve.com
Esther Smith, partner, Thomas Eggar
I am afraid that in the absence of any contractual agreement to the contrary, the sum due back to your employer is due immediately on the provision in the contract becoming operable, that is the termination of your employment.
However, most employers will be reasonable in these circumstances particularly where the employee is not disputing that the sums are due to be repaid but is seeking to negotiate on timing. I am not sure of the sums involve here or how long you were hoping to repay them but if you were to propose to the company repayment in full in three equal instalments over a three month period I would be surprised if the company did not agree to this. If they have this commitment from you in writing they would be ill advised to reject it and issue proceedings against you as, even if the court ordered you to repay the sums, they are likely to make provision in their order for some form of staged payments, unless the employer can demonstrate that you are in a position to repay the sum in full immediately.
Esther Smith is a partner in Thomas Eggar’s Employment Law Unit. For further information please visit Thomas Eggar
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