These questions are being answered by Learn HR, a market leader in the provision of HR and payroll training and nationally-recognised professional qualifications.
Q: All new recruits are sent on an expensive, externally run training course designed to give them the specialist, technical skills required for their work. Unfortunately, we have recently lost some staff to a competitor that does not pay for training. Can we therefore deduct the cost of training from the final pay of staff who move to a rival?
A: You cannot do that with existing employees. Any such deduction would be judged an unlawful deduction from wages and you would have to repay it while losing the right to recover it in any other way. However you certainly can include a clause in the employment contracts of new employees requiring them to repay at least part of the cost of training if they leave you within a given period.
The cost should be reasonable and should be reduced gradually over a period of, say, no more than two years to reflect the benefit you gained from the trained employee. The arrangement must be clearly agreed in writing with each employee, either in the contract of employment or in a separate document.
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