AK intervened

Company demanded money back after dismissal

Once again, the experts from AK Vorarlberg intervened successfully.

(Bild: AK Vorarlberg)

An employee in Vorarlberg was asked to pay back over 11,000 euros for further training after being made redundant. He had the case examined by the Chamber of Labor - and it intervened successfully.

Mr. M. completed several months of professional training. The costs of 11,277 euros were covered by his employer. After successfully completing the training, the company presented him with an agreement stating that he would have to repay the entire training costs if he left the company within four years. Some time after completing the training, Mr. M. terminated his employment - and his former employer immediately demanded repayment of the entire training costs.

Not legally tenable
However, Mr M. was convinced that he did not have to pay back the costs and contacted the labor law department of the Vorarlberg Chamber of Labor. The head of the department, Dr. Christian Maier, examined the facts of the case and came to the following conclusion: "Such an agreement, which is only signed retrospectively, is not legally binding. Employers may not oblige employees to make repayments retrospectively." If the training or further training is a basic requirement for practising the profession and is prescribed by regulation, law or collective agreement or agreed with the company, then the employer must bear the entire costs anyway.

In the case of Mr. M., everything went smoothly, as his ex-company refrained from making the claim thanks to the intervention of the AK.