New Academic Year Begins: Who Bears the Costs?

New Academic Year Begins: Who Bears the Costs?

The new academic year has begun, bringing new opportunities for employees to follow a study or course. However, this naturally incurs costs 💶, and the question arises: who ultimately pays for this? Employer or employee?

How Does It Work Again?

The law does not provide specific regulations detailing the requirements for a training costs clause, but according to case law, it must include:

• Benefit Period: The period within which the employer expects to benefit from the employee's new knowledge and skills.
• Sliding Scale: The repayment obligation should be proportionally reduced with the continuation of the employment contract after the completion of the training.
• Clear Explanation: The repayment scheme must be clearly explained to the employee.

If these requirements are not met, the training costs clause is void (invalid). For example, if you do not clearly inform the employee of the financial consequences, you act contrary to good employer practice, resulting in an invalid training costs clause.

Valid Training Costs Clause

Even if there is a valid training costs clause, the question remains whether you, as an employer, can reclaim the training costs. The regulation in Article 7:611a of the Civil Code applies here. As an employer, you must enable an employee to undertake training necessary for the performance of their duties. If this training is mandatory under applicable EU law, national law, or a collective labour agreement, then the training costs are entirely the employer's responsibility. Even if the training costs clause meets the requirements set by case law, the repayment scheme may still be void if it concerns costs you incurred for training necessary for the employee's job performance. However, if the training was required knowledge at the start of the job, you are allowed to agree on a repayment scheme.

In Summary

Are you about to have your employee(s) follow an expensive training or course? Ensure you can agree on a repayment scheme and that the training costs clause meets the required criteria.

Click here for a ruling on the training costs clause and the repayment of training.