Any employment lawyers about please

[FlabulousChix]

I've handed in my notice and I'm o. Sick leave whilst it is running. I have had a course paid for at a cost of 2k. During the year I have had to miss two exams for work, not attend college on certain days and work instead which has not been paid for. I'm anticipating a letter tomorrow requesting I repay in full. I'd like to counteract that with the following points.

1. Aat membership is not part of the course and all those who work I. Finance have their membership fees paid therefore I refute repayment
2. I missed college on numerous occasions due to work overload and was not reinburaes for additional hours worked.
3. the course has six weeks to run and I am unable to complete ergo I do not feel requesting a full reimbursement is a fair representation of the losses made by the company.

If they Sue me I'm happy to fight it in that basis.

On a side note I've put in a grievance with the college as the tutor changes in January and the new one was shit.

You need to check the wording in the training agreement or your employment contract to see whether or not there is a repayment clause. Some clauses reduce the need for repayment on a sliding scale e.g. repayment is reduced by a third each year over three years. Alternatively, you may be able to negotiate a reduced repayment with your employer but will need to ensure this is in writing.

Good luck.

Did they agree to you missing training or did you just not go because you were busy?
I left a job midway through training and paid the rest privately so I could qualify. How are you a member if you haven't qualified? Membership fees and training/exam fees are different.

I don't think 2 of your 3 points are any defence at all.

Aat membership is not part of the course and all those who work I. Finance have their membership fees paid therefore I refute repayment We would only pay professional fees for current employees - if an employee was to leave during training we would likely pass that cost on to the employee.

the course has six weeks to run and I am unable to complete ergo I do not feel requesting a full reimbursement is a fair representation of the losses made by the company The company will have paid a fee for the whole course- there will be no refunds for non completion.

Your second point might hold up if you missed the course because of a direct instruction from a manager. If it could be ascribed to poor time management or lack of prioritisation then you're on a sticky wicket.

I'd advise that you drop this idea of challenging the fees. If you signed to agree that you would pay back the cost then you are obliged to do so. Your best bet is to take a more cooperative approach. Try to negotiate the cost down and arrange repayments in instalments.

PS- colleges can't guarantee continuity of staff so not sure that complaint will gain much traction.

It wasn't poor time management at all my colleague left and since November I've had to do 40 percent of his work in an already full time position. Ergo completing 6 days work in five. I told them in December long term it was not sustainable and the stress was killing me. Six months later nothing changed other than my line manager sending me a link to time management information. The new guy is doing 60 percent less work than the person before and having to work extra and getting free time off because of it. I'm off sick with stress and handed my notice in. Re the membership fees it's been 11 months surely then they only need to be partially repaid as they have had the benefit of me being a member for 11 months.

If that's the case you want to make you'll need to back it up with a lot of hard evidence. It's awful that the job stresses you so much you have to leave, and the company should be supporting you. However, the onus is very much on you to prove that they haven't. Some jobs just don't suit people - it's not always about blame.

Was the meeting you had in December a formal meeting? Is there a written record of it? Any emails? It's going to be difficult to prove the new guy is doing 60% less work - how have you measured that?

Accountancy training is expensive and your company has a policy on recouping costs which you have agreed to. You are going to have to construct a pretty bulletproof case to get the fees waived. I repeat that you are better aiming to get a reduction or an easier repayment schedule.

I have an email sent New Year's Eve. It's easy to measure what he does. He only does production invoices and expenses. I done non production. He was supposed to do payments weekly and monthly, the cash forecast and deal with all remittances and posting payments. I've been doing that since November. The turnover is 140 million so as you can imagine it's a very busy accounts payable department. He has slow keyboard skills around 40 mine are 100 wpm. Ergo not his fault he is slow.

Ideally I just want to prove that whilst I signed to repay they signed to agree to support me in my studies and they haven't done that and ultimately I have had to leave because of the lack of support.

It's not an internet forum you have to convince, it's your employer. They will have their own perspective of the situation and for you to challenge that, you have to be able to back up any allegations.

I went sick Friday and for a cert for a month I resigned the same day giving four weeks notice. I had the day before had to listen to someone slagging me off for applying a payment incorrectly in November when they left me in the shit doing both jobs. My colleague left as he was so stressed and over worked. At present there are two people doing 40 percent of his work the rest I done. I will repay at ten a month as I can prove I've only 50 a month disposable income. I think they will take me to court I'm ringing legal aid today to see if I can get help

I can't find my contract but will look. The finance director is off on holiday. If id been there two years is have gone constructive dismissal route but I couldn't stick another six months of sleepless nights and cheat pains. I had to have a fan on my desk for anxiety flushes

Sorry for typos