Central Netherlands District Court has ruled that an employer cannot invoke the study costs clause where the training in question is essential.
Tuition Fees Clause
The training costs clause means that, should the (fixed-term) employment contract with the employee come to an end, the employee must reimburse the employer (in part) for the costs incurred by the employer in providing the training.
The employer is responsible for the inspection, analysis and inventory of asbestos. In order to carry out their duties as inspectors/analysts, the employees were required to undertake in-house training at the employer’s expense, possibly supplemented by external courses and training programmes.
You can see it coming – otherwise there wouldn’t have been a court case: the employment contracts are coming to an end and the employer is demanding that the employee reimburse study costs totalling more than €22,000. The employee is contesting this claim.
Void
The Court declares the clause on study costs to be void. This is because the training is necessary for the employee to perform their duties, and in such cases the Article 7:611a of the Civil Code that the employer must offer the training to the employee free of charge. Furthermore, the time spent on training is regarded as working time and, where possible, the training must take place during working hours. During the oral hearing of the case, the employer confirmed that the training is necessary for the performance of the role and that it does not constitute training which employees are already required to have at the start of their employment.
Good employment practices
The Court also finds that the employer did not act in a manner befitting a good employer. For example, there is no proper breakdown of the internal training costs incurred by the employer (the Court considers that only the employer’s actual costs may fall under the study costs clause, not a (profit) mark-up). Furthermore, the employer had not made the serious consequences for the employees – namely, having to repay the study costs – sufficiently clear to them.