In my case, I need an additional license to drive the type of goods I am carrying which is mandatory by law, which employer paid for the training. I am also required to have periodic vocational driver training, Both of these are required by law to do the job I do.
In certain circumstances costs can be recovered but the contract has to be very carefully worded for it to be legal
(for one thing they cannot withhold any pay/holiday pay due to you when you leave
But the could for example give you a loan to cover course costs, so you would still have to repay this loan when if you leave before its repaid)
The trainer's comment could be correct in limited circumstances, but the example given isn't one of them (I suspect it is yours rather than the trainer's example?).
A quick question for the legal guys.
I have a clause in my employment contract which I have signed which allows my company to recover any training costs if I leave the company within a specified period of time, however, these costs are not broken down of stipulated.
During a conversation with a trainer today, I was told that if the training provided was not requested by the employee and was a mandatory legal requirement for the job that they have been hired to do, the clause is not enforceable even if you have signed it. For example if a company hires you to drive Heavy Goods Vehicle knowing you do not have a HGV license and the company puts you through HGV Training at their expense without you asking for it.
Is this correct?
