I originally posted this in legals but was advised to post on this board instead.
I started working for my current employer in September.
I had just graduated and my chosen career requires us to work 2 years in employment to get chartered and most employers in this sector offer a structured training schedule and opportunities to get the necessary experience to pass the final assessment and become chartered.
My employer effectively lied about the nature of the job and implied we would get support and training opportunities which would enable us to eventually take our assessment.
It’s a relatively new company and there was only 1 senior member of our team when I joined with the other graduates.
After 2 months another senior member was hired and fired within the same week just before Christmas for gross misconduct. He had been hired to apparently help us with our training.
Another couple of month passed and finally another senior team member was hired to guide our training. He seems really great and finally we were able to register with the central assessment body to start our training. We have to log 2 years’ worth of diaries showing our practical experience on the job.
The registration cost £500 and a years membership is £115. My employer paid for these (as is standard practice) and made us sign a contract saying if we leave the company within 1 year of gaining our chartership then we have to repay what they have spent on membership fees and training - again this is standard practice.
I had been doing well at work and received a promotion, but the actual work I do will in no way support me getting chartered. The job is simply completely different to what was advertised when I accepted the position.
Also covid19 has meant I was furloughed 7 weeks ago so we are obviously not getting any experience or training at all currently.
I have recently accepted a brilliant position on a graduate scheme for a huge multinational company which will start in September.
My question is, in light of all the events that have happened and the fact I will have been employed at my current role for nearly a year before I leave and I will have received NO formal training at all, am I still obliged to repay the money?
Do I have any legal standing with this?
Whilst I understand they have paid the cost of registering me with the assessing body and a years membership but I have not been able to utilise them because of their lack of senior staff and lack or training for us.
It seems unfair that I am effectively paying for something I have not received.
In any other company I would be half way through my training by the time I leave at the end of August, but to date we have done nothing relevant and have logged no diary entries.
Do I have to repay the full £615 when I leave?
Just to add, I am not complaining about covid19 delaying training as that is to be expected.
However, my peers in different companies have still been able to log enough diary entries to cover this period because they have had a vast amount of experience and training from their employers.
I also cannot see how even when “training” does start how we can get the relevant experience to cover the required competencies to get chartered. We will either have to lie or greatly exaggerate our involvement with certain aspects which I’m not comfortable doing