This is kind of a long story, so I'll do my best to keep it factual and brief.
I've recently ended my employment from a company after being there for 7 years. My original employment contract which I had signed in 2008 has nothing in regards to the reimbursement of training costs Several years later, my employer attempted to introduce an internal training policy that stipulates that all training costs are to be repaid to the employer if the employee leaves the company within 24 months. At the time this policy was distributed to staff, I declined to accept those terms (as it seems a little to ambiguous, and in my industry, training costs could easily exceed $10,000 within a 2 year period), and did not sign the document as they had requested. No discussion was had on the matter, despite my requests to address the issue.
Fast forward about 18 months later, and my employer approached me, as they wanted to send me on a training course that was required for me to obtain the skills and knowledge to support and manage internal infrastructure that they had invested in. The initiative for this course was entirely on their behalf. They reminded me of the reimbursement of the training costs should I resign within 24 months, at which point I reminded them that I had not signed that internal policy, and further questioned why I should be financially responsible for obtaining the training required to support their own internal infrastructure. My manager said "I'll get back to you", and I should just book the course - so I did. No further discussion was had.
Fast forward 6 months, and I resigned. They told me that I owed them the cost of the course, which amounted to $4,500 - a figure that had never been mentioned until now. When I reminded them that I had never agreed to the training policy. They said it didn't matter, as my original employment contract I signed in 2008, had an item that says that I would "comply with internal policy changes as varied from time to time".
I directed them to the Fair Work Act 2009 which says that for an employer to deduct from a employees entitlement, they must be primarily for the employee's benefit, and the employer must have consent, in writing, from the employee. Something which they don't have. They then said at this point that they would be deducting the amount from my final leave entitlements, because it would be cheaper for them to do that, than it would be to pay me what they owe me, and chase me for it later.
It turns out that my leave entitlements didn't amount to enough to cover the cost of the training, so the next day they ended my employment 2 weeks early. I received my final payout letter, and they had deducted the entirety of my leave entitlements, in addition to 2 weeks wages.
I took this issue to Fair Work Ombudsman, who said the best they could do was try and set up a meeting with me, my employer, and a mediator from Fair Work Australia, in hopes to resolve the dispute. My employer declined.
So here I am. I now need to decide whether this is something I should pursue with the small claims court. The only thing that's preventing me from making the decision, is whether their justification of the fact I signed some other document that says I would agree to all internal policies and procedures holds any merit for their side of the argument. As much as I would love to take them to court and "stick it to em'" given the severe financial impact his has had on my personal life, I need to make sure I'm attacking this tactically, and not emotionally.
Any advice on employment law any one could provide, would be greatly appreciated.
I've recently ended my employment from a company after being there for 7 years. My original employment contract which I had signed in 2008 has nothing in regards to the reimbursement of training costs Several years later, my employer attempted to introduce an internal training policy that stipulates that all training costs are to be repaid to the employer if the employee leaves the company within 24 months. At the time this policy was distributed to staff, I declined to accept those terms (as it seems a little to ambiguous, and in my industry, training costs could easily exceed $10,000 within a 2 year period), and did not sign the document as they had requested. No discussion was had on the matter, despite my requests to address the issue.
Fast forward about 18 months later, and my employer approached me, as they wanted to send me on a training course that was required for me to obtain the skills and knowledge to support and manage internal infrastructure that they had invested in. The initiative for this course was entirely on their behalf. They reminded me of the reimbursement of the training costs should I resign within 24 months, at which point I reminded them that I had not signed that internal policy, and further questioned why I should be financially responsible for obtaining the training required to support their own internal infrastructure. My manager said "I'll get back to you", and I should just book the course - so I did. No further discussion was had.
Fast forward 6 months, and I resigned. They told me that I owed them the cost of the course, which amounted to $4,500 - a figure that had never been mentioned until now. When I reminded them that I had never agreed to the training policy. They said it didn't matter, as my original employment contract I signed in 2008, had an item that says that I would "comply with internal policy changes as varied from time to time".
I directed them to the Fair Work Act 2009 which says that for an employer to deduct from a employees entitlement, they must be primarily for the employee's benefit, and the employer must have consent, in writing, from the employee. Something which they don't have. They then said at this point that they would be deducting the amount from my final leave entitlements, because it would be cheaper for them to do that, than it would be to pay me what they owe me, and chase me for it later.
It turns out that my leave entitlements didn't amount to enough to cover the cost of the training, so the next day they ended my employment 2 weeks early. I received my final payout letter, and they had deducted the entirety of my leave entitlements, in addition to 2 weeks wages.
I took this issue to Fair Work Ombudsman, who said the best they could do was try and set up a meeting with me, my employer, and a mediator from Fair Work Australia, in hopes to resolve the dispute. My employer declined.
So here I am. I now need to decide whether this is something I should pursue with the small claims court. The only thing that's preventing me from making the decision, is whether their justification of the fact I signed some other document that says I would agree to all internal policies and procedures holds any merit for their side of the argument. As much as I would love to take them to court and "stick it to em'" given the severe financial impact his has had on my personal life, I need to make sure I'm attacking this tactically, and not emotionally.
Any advice on employment law any one could provide, would be greatly appreciated.