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Elaine Li
25-07-2012, 11:51 AM
I want to add this into our offering letter, anyone give me some advice if I can enforce this in Sydney under the Australian work laws, any way I can check from the government body to make sure we will not get any problems if we enforce this.

Herewith my draft :

As a condition of your employment, you are required to attend a five week introductory training in the United Kingdom/United States [delete as appropriate]. The Company will bear the cost of travel and accommodation for the duration of this training, and will reimburse you for subsistence expenses incurred and reported in line with the Company’s Expenses Policy.

By signing this letter as your acceptance of the terms listed above, you also accept to reimburse all of the Company’s costs associated with your five week introductory training should you leave the Company’s employment voluntarily during your first 18 months of employment.

The Company costs include travel costs, accommodation, and any reimbursed subsistence expenses.

The reimbursement will be exercised in regressive scale according to the full service period:

100% of the total Company costs, should you leave the Company voluntarily within 0-6 months of your return from training;
50% of the total Company costs, should you leave the Company voluntarily within 6-12 months of your return from training;
25% of the total Company costs, should you leave the Company voluntarily after 12 months but within 18 months of your return from training.

Please share your comments, thanks.

Qld IR Consultant
25-07-2012, 01:36 PM
Elaine, the rule of thumb I use is that nothing in any contract is enforceable till its been tested. The wording of the provision looks clear enough to me. I am assuming the rest of the contract is drafted in reference to australian legislation?

Cottoneyes
26-07-2012, 08:39 AM
Elaine,

I agree with Qld IR, and you need to think about the legal costs to enforce (assuming someone leaves without the leave entitlements to deduct this from) versus what you will receive back.

As an aside to whether it is legal or not, I've never seen anyone have anything like this where the costs of training to do the job is deducted if you don't stick around. I would question whether you will find that good candidates would not agree to join with your organisation due to this.
I've seen similar cases where the organisation pays for further education for the employee, however it is not compulsory and it is usually the employee who instigates the request (after the policy is in place by the employer).
Just my 2 cents worth, however it's not going to help with your recruitment process.