Any HR experts who can help me?

[butterfly7484]

My jobs is becoming dire, and causing me to be quite unwell. It's become a terrible place to work and I have no support whatsoever.

I have quite a technical role, and there is no one to help me, or train me. Due to the nature of the role changes all the time, it doesn't stay the same. My manager doesn't have the skills required to be the manager but has the job because of friends in high places, so can't help me. So it's a nightmare.

Because of updates in the world affecting my job and requirements of my role, a few months ago my manager suggested I do some training externally because they can't train or help me themselves, and that I can use this training to help others in the company. So I did, totalling £1500 overall.

Anyway, I am hating the job so much due to stress over no support , I am considering leaving. But I've checked my contract and I would have to pay training fees back if I leave within 5 years (it's written off at 20% a year).

This makes me even more stressed - can they legally do this - with a five year clause?

If the training was at the company's suggestion so that you could train others, and you've delivered that training then I would suggest you can argue against enforcement of that clause.

I thought that kind of clause was more for when your employer is funding a Master's degree or a professional qualification. (I'm not an expert though)

I'm not in HR but that's a fairly standard clause for any training paid for by your employer. If it makes you more employable and a new employer (should you leave) would benefit from the acquired skills, most employers will want reimbursing on a sliding scale.

We do this we fund postgraduate professional training over s two year programme during which time the employee has a much reduced workload to accommodate the study. They are then contracted to stay for at least two years or we expect to be paid back, the fee is reduced by 25% for every six months. The qualification costs us £20k and they get paid a good salary throughout training. It seems fair to me

If you believe your work environment is so bad you can't do your job, you could argue constructive dismissal. This means that the employer has broken their contract with you and it therefore becomes unenforceable

IME, it's a common clause that's rarely enforced, especially not for this kind of training. If they did want to enforce you could offer £10 pw, but I bet no one will even mention it.

Hi, from your employer's perspective, they have invested £1500 in your training with the outcome being that this will enable you to contribute to the company by training others. I assume you have agreed to the clawback clause in writing. That constitutes a contract, so if you now decide to leave (having benefitted from the training which potentially enhances your chance of getting another role) you will have broken the contract & will need to pay back the training costs. That's the legal position and they can enforce this. Whether they will or not I don't know (we would - I'm an HR Manager). Your issues with your employer are separate & you need to raise these with your line manager & if you can't resolve, lodge a formal grievance.

It's technically breach of contract but they'd have to take you to court to claim it which I've never known a company bother to do. No-one will mention it likely. If they are pissy about it though they may refuse to provide a reference.

So is five years a reasonable time to hold this over me? In past companies I have worked at, it's been two years max and it starts to decrease after 6 months. I just think five years is very unreasonable?

I'm in HR, I don't agree with most of what you have been told above. It's what's in the contract or agreement that matters - if it says you pay it back and you have signed and agreed to the terms or contract then they will deduct it from your pay legally.

I do agree with @wannabebetter - we always enforce it, totally depends on whether they usually do or not

The time to discuss whether the clause was unreasonable was before you did the training. If you agreed to the clause when you signed up for the training, you can't now decide it's unreasonable because it doesn't suit you.

You could talk to them, but it's a contract so they can enforce it.

Yes, I’ve worked in companies who have enforced this. If you don’t agree a payment plan it came off your final salary.

I've done something similar they made it very clear if I left they would begin chasing payment

I wasn't reminded about this before I did the training (in past jobs I have signed something before I did the training). But I've checked my contract and it's in there. I know it's my fault for not checking but If I had checked I would never have done it. It's been a real headache to try and train other people to do things too.