Gas training agreement!

[Ray Stafford]

actually in contract law it doesnt matter what you sign upto, the law draws the line at statutory rights.

for example if you sign upto a contract such as that in question and it transpired that the company was in the wrong and the contract contravened your statutory rights the fact that you signed would not mean anything. to protect idiots it is not permitted to sign away statutory rights.

Right 99.99% of the time, but not absolutely 100%.

I had a situation recently where I wanted to voluntarily waive my statutory rights as part of a contract. I had to go to a commissioner for oaths, and "swear an oath" that my solicitor had explained the consequences to me, but that I still wanted to waive my statutory rights. I signed it, he countersigned it, and the oath was appended to the contract.

It all felt very Victorian, sitting in this oak-panelled study, being lectured like a schoolboy. The really weird thing was the cost - it was £5. Normally a solicitor won't pick up a pen for a fiver, but apparently this has been fixed by law for donkeys years.

 

[kay-jay]

Right 99.99% of the time, but not absolutely 100%.

I had a situation recently where I wanted to voluntarily waive my statutory rights as part of a contract. I had to go to a commissioner for oaths, and "swear an oath" that my solicitor had explained the consequences to me, but that I still wanted to waive my statutory rights. I signed it, he countersigned it, and the oath was appended to the contract.

It all felt very Victorian, sitting in this oak-panelled study, being lectured like a schoolboy. The really weird thing was the cost - it was £5. Normally a solicitor won't pick up a pen for a fiver, but apparently this has been fixed by law for donkeys years.

If the op's employer had him swearing an oath then he really is in trouble....

Not bg is it? Lol

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[AWheating]

Hi AW.

Whilst it is true that there are very tight rules about withholding wages, that doesn't mean that you haven't signed a contract, which may still be enforceable. Its just that the employer would have to go to court to enforce it, rather than withhold from wages. Whether they would bother would probably depend on the amount of money at stake, and how much time had elapsed.

We have training agreements similar to this, but usually only make use of them if the training is something that the employee requests, rather than the company requiring. I don't think thats unreasonable - in some cases we have laid out £thousands for professional qualifications which will benefit the employee for the rest of their lives, and I don't see why we shouldnt protect that investment. Its just a question of being reasonable and balanced about it, and above all, agreeing it in writing at the outset. We have never had to enforce one, but we would if we felt that an employee was taking the micky.

thats what i was saying ray, even if a contract is legal, it can not stop or effect the payment of a persons normal wages. You can only make deductions to an employees wages for a small number of reasons and then it must be after the employee is notified correctly, not after the wage is paid.

my old bosses would deduct wages just becuase they thought its was there right to do what they pleased, they found out they couldnt the hard way with me, but as other employees never stood up for themselves they got away with deducting a fortune.

 

[ambrosia]

mine says if i leave in 1st year i have to pay 75% back 2nd year 50%.
however i didnt sign any contract, just got an email from my boss saying thats what i have to pay back 'if you leave' which to my mind excludes being sacked.
Therefore when i'm ready to leave i'll be posting a question on this forum, title of which will be 'suggestions for amusing ways to get sacked'

 

[julesverne]

if you left wthin 6 months then in all fairness your employer has a right to be miffed whether he would be succesful in getting the money would be another matter.

for a start your employer has no choice but to send you for re-assesment so you can carry on doing the job he pays you to do. so it could be argued by it is a necessary expence for the job fair or not and should have been accounted for.

the amount it would cost them in legal fees to claim the money back wouldnt be worth there while.

my thinking is that although it may not be morally right if you left after 6 months they wouldnt be able to get anything back from you. because although they have shelled out for you ACS re assesment they will have also profited from your work after that date and probably a lot more than what the training cost.

also bear in mind you might not get a reference from your employer should you move on

 

[AXTENK]

I'm seeing them on Wednesday to discuss this. I've told them I'm not signing the agreement until I agree with the contents. To conclude are we saying generally that its reasonable to agree to pay back course fees on a reducing scale but not including their lost profits and the wages they will pay me for the duration of the course and assessments. I will refer them to the JIB ACS training agreement posted by Tamz