EMPLOYERS' WORKFORCE TRAINING DILEMMA

02/02/2010

Employers are increasingly looking to up-skill their workforce to stay ahead of the competition. But this poses a tough dilemma - risk expensively-trained employees defecting to rivals, or risk a workforce discontented by a lack of training opportunities.

Many businesses opt for the latter, and in doing so staff turnover levels are increased and the quality of employees attracted (or not) to the company is damaged. Inevitably, this will have a detrimental effect on the bottom line.

To escape this rock and hard place scenario, I would advise employers to recover training costs using a repayment clause in the contract of employment. This means the cost of the course is repayable if the employee leaves their position within a certain period after the training ends.

Such clauses are however notoriously difficult to enforce in the courts and must be drafted precisely. The sum of money which the clause permits an employer to recover must be a genuine pre-estimate of the damages which the employer has suffered. The repayment clause should also set out a sliding scale of repayment whereby the amount to be repaid reduces according to the length of time the employee remains with the employer after the training finishes. In addition, employers should also ensure that the size of the deduction does not infringe on the employee’s right to receive the national minimum wage.

Requests for company-funded training are unavoidable, but court proceedings are - so businesses should make sure that a trusted professional drafts their contracts of employment with a suitable clause anticipating such requests for training.

For advice about training contracts, please speak to John Buchanan on 0800 124 4012.