Anyone from HR around? Employer changed mind about contributing to travel costs for course after I started the course.

[mechanicalpencil]

Work asked me to do a demanding course Level 7 qualification. This involves 100% face-to-face weekly lectures/tutorials in a city which is a 3 hour commute by train (one way).

They have said from the beginning that all costs would be split 75:25 with them paying the 75% and me the 25%.

I am now into the second month of my course and have provided all receipts for the train (£250 per month) from the first week.

However, they haven't as yet paid me back anything for the train... almost 6 weeks on. I have sent several emails about this since I started but had no reply.

On Friday, I was called into the Manager's office to say they wouldn't be contributing anything at all to the train costs as they don’t have enough money left in the training budget.

It was also explained to me that there should have been a written contract for the course but the manager who set it up failed to do this and has since left the company. So there is nothing to prove what was said/agreed on.

Now I am in a position where it is too late to withdraw from the course because there won't be a refund. Also, I cannot afford an extra £250 a month as I budgeted for 25% of costs. Looking at my finances, there’s very little I can do to conjure up this money from elsewhere as I am already following a strict budget. It will be £1500 over a 6 month period which will have to go on my credit card.

AIBU to think they should have told me this from the beginning especially as they would have known how much was in the training budget? or am I being unreasonable?

IABU I should pay 100% travel costs.

IANBU The company should pay for the travel costs or at least consider 50:50 or similar.

Get in touch with your finance department. They would have had some sort of instructions to pay the course fees and have evidence of a purchase order and invoice. Use this trail to back up your case.

I would not ask your employer for a loan to cover the shortfall. I am extremely debt averse, but this is one scenario where I would be willing to break out a credit card.

If you get a loan from your employer, they might be able to obligate you to stay as an employee or pay back the cost of the course. they messed up and tried to screw you over. Your best bet is to get the credential and use it to get a new job.

@mechanicalpencil could you contact former manager and ask if they remember the agreement and would write confirming it covered travel?

Tho contacting ex-employee could backfire … never know what might say.

@Mookytoo obviously depends on OP’s relationship with that person but if it were me I’d be professional/honest in that situation.

So much fantastic advice and moral support on here, thank you so much everyone.

The OP has said they can not afford the extra hundreds of pounds a month. Not that they won't. They can't.

I’d find a way to pay it, if it was me (and it was a few years ago) as I’d take the long term view about better career prospects. Get a loan and pay it back over time for example as you will likely have a better job and better prospects. Just giving my point of view. When similar happened to me that’s what I did and it turned out to be a great career move.

Get the qualification OP , stick costs on a cheap credit card - look for a 6 months deal on a new card ? Look for a new job making use of your new qualification . I presume if there is so little in writing there is nothing about having to stay with the company for a certain amount of time after you finish the course ?

Previous poster makes an excellent point. Is it that

1. They think you are lying about having travel funding agreed
2. They accept it was agreed but can't afford to pay from training budget?

I would ask them this question.
If training budget doesn't cover, I'd be asking for a pay increase to cover. That will come out of staffing budget. Which incidentally is the same budget that will take a hit if you quit over their flakiness.

If the answer to 1 is yes, the working relationship is damaged to the point you should leave asap anyway

In fact not asking for a pay increase, insisting on it.

Explain to them that you cannot afford to continue the course - and presumably there will still be fees incurred which will now be wasted if you stop the course, so it is in everybody's interests to find a solution.

It's not your fault the paperwork wasn't done. The suggestion that they look at whether there's money available in a different budget is a good one.

Failing that, might they be able to fund the transport for now, on the understanding that you will pay it back after the end of the course, when you'll no longer have to find your share of the course fees?

Can you contact the course leader and ask if you can attend virtually as you no longer have the funds to travel.

I'd be looking to find another job.

I’d not into what OP can “afford” … that’s not the issue. Manager might get in his head that OP can’t manage their finances. Keep manager focused on what was agreed.

The issue is what was agreed. And OP needs to be whole financially per the agreement.

Dont make threats to leave, they might be accepted.

Company has many option for paying travel. (Travel expenses) and the training goes into training expenses.

The manager who left agreed this. It must be honored.

The messages and advice have been so incredibly helpful to me over the past week and I thank every person who took the time to respond. It has been an awful time and has caused a huge amount of stress.

I have done 3 things in the past week:

• Written a clear email outlining the key points to my manager and asking the company to reconsider their "0% travel contribution" (from 75%).

• I found out a new HR person was recruited last month and so I emailed him asking for support and intending to set up a meeting. They (1 person) replied by saying they only offer support to management despite the fact that in their JD it says "support to management and individual staff members". I found this strange. I have never contacted HR before so don't know if that is the norm.

• As I am now approaching my overdraft, I have applied for a loan to cover the transport with the intention of getting through this and then getting out of this company asap. I am also struggling to pay bills and haven't yet bought any of the textbooks for the course simply because I can't afford to. I am usually very careful with money, but because I have been budgeting for 25% instead of 100% transport costs this has had a huge impact.

• The very next day of sending the email to HR, the manager contacted me and asked for the breakdown of the journey costs and timescale.

Not sure if the timing is a coincidence, but it looks like they might be reconsidering?

In the meantime, your comments have helped me see what a toxic environment it is to work in.

Thank you again.

I will update.

@mechanicalpencil well done. If you do decide to leave, do check whether your contract requires repayment for training where you leave within a certain time period (i.e. before Employer gets any benefit)

@mechanicalpencil

Any updates?

They should pay the extra travel, so everything minus how long/much it normally takes you to get there. If you don't have anything in writing I'm not sure what you can do, could try refusing to go and see what they say. But keep everything via email so its written down.

update

After my email requesting them to reconsider their 75% to 0% contributions to travel costs and detailing the impact this has had on me financially, I received a message to say that they would contribute 50% of travel costs and nothing more.

Although I am still disappointed to have been treated so poorly, I am also relieved to have half of the travel costs provided. I now also have a loan in order to be able to cover all extra costs - not ideal at all , but necessary.

I also had a meeting with HR who advised me that unfortunately due to the lack of a written contract, the company were free to act as they pleased. She also encouraged me to view it as an investment in myself with the view to moving on.

All in all, I have learned some valuable lessons here about the importance of having a written record of everything and not being too naive!

It is the type of employer who try to act in ways like this always in the hope that people will just accept it and not challenge them. I have seen many people before being treated poorly.

It has also been a lesson to learn to stand up for myself and increase resilience (which I am not good at but hopefully, after this, getting better at!!!

Last of all, so much gratitude to you all who supported and offered such brilliant advice.

If it were me, having done a third of the course, I’d find a way to make it work and then dump the company as soon as possible. Terrible behaviour from an employer

Sorry just saw your update. Happy for you that they came to their senses.

I also had a meeting with HR who advised me that unfortunately due to the lack of a written contract, the company were free to act as they pleased. She also encouraged me to view it as an investment in myself with the view to moving on.

You've had some wise counsel here. Get the qualification and use it to find yourself a better job. If nothing is in writing, then the company cannot tie you in to paying back the costs if you leave shortly after qualifying.