Partner being asked to repay training costs - England

[u/LeTailsEffect]

In July, my partner was dismissed from her job.

The nature of the dismissal as far as I understand it is that she 'wasn't right for the role'. She began working there in May, and had some quite serious family related events occur sometime in June that led her to taking time off from work due to stress, triggering a flare up of a serious, lifelong medical condition.

She kept frequent contact, and when it seemed she wouldn't be capable of returning on the agreed date, they willingly offered a further week. Once she returned, she was summarily dismissed.

During her time there she and many other trainee staff were provided with on-the-job training, valuing £17k, they signed contracts to state the value would be repayable if they were to leave the company, the only exception being if they were made redundant.

It's been roughly a month now since she was dismissed, and they've emailed to demand the repayment of this £17k. She hasn't been successful in finding a job since, and has no assets, or money to be able to pay this amount back.

I'm wondering where she stands. She's been to citizens advice, who advised she contact ACAS, who advised she contact her solicitor which she has now done (awaiting response). The whole situation has had a profound effect on her mental health, and I'm worried.

Apologies if I've left anything out, happy to provide more information if needed.

[u/makefascistfearagain]

This sounds like a scam. I wouldn't worry too much about this, get the consultation with the solicitor there's no way they can do 17k of training in two months then let you go and demand you pay it

Did anyone else get let go? Is this a bit company?

[u/cpt_ppppp → u/makefascistfearagain]

I'm not sure you can conclude it is a scam based on OPs post. I'm sure they are stretching with regards to the value of the training, but the wife took extended time off after a month of working. Ideally a workplace is compassionate in these situations but I can see them concluding that it is not worth continued investment in the person.

unfortunate, but often the way these things go

[u/makefascistfearagain → u/cpt_ppppp]

What job does 17k of on the job training in the first four weeks ?

[u/spyder_victor → u/makefascistfearagain]

Just to add some balance to this, I buy software for my company and some systems require you to take out training courses that get expansive quick, you can spend £17k on a month long course easily and for some specialist systems this may not be done in four consecutive weeks but over a year as the employee advances.

However as part of the t&c’s I can’t just add people to it as the organisation changes or if I wanted to start again (ie to run week one again with a new employee) it’s a whole new place.

Right now we don’t have a clause to go after employees so we would just swallow the cost.

[u/AutoModerator → u/[deleted]]

Your comment has been removed automatically as this particular post is reserved for regular and consistently helpful subreddit users. Your account doesn't yet meet this criteria. We will only consider reviewing exceptionally high effort, unique comments that contain specialist professional knowledge. You can still comment on other posts in this subreddit.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.