Some employers include terms in their employment contracts allowing them to recover certain costs from employees when they leave the company. These might include, for example, recovery of training costs where the employee leaves the company within a certain period after completing the training, or recovery of relocation expenses where the employee leaves within a certain period of the move.
These terms are likely to be legally valid provided the amount to be recovered is a genuine estimate of the loss caused to the company by the employee's departure. The amount should not, therefore, exceed the costs that the employer has incurred in providing the training or meeting the relocation expenses. It should also reduce over time, to take into account the service that the employee has provided after training or relocating and before leaving the company. Further advice on using this type of clause can be obtained from your Association.
It is worth remembering that it is unlawful for an employer to deduct any sum from a departing employee's pay unless it has authorisation to do so (deductions from pay).