Duur leergeld. Sluit een goed studiekostenbeding.

Nowadays, more than ever before, employers are expected to invest in training their employees. However, this training can come at high costs. If the employee leaves during or shortly after a training/course/study with his employer, the employer has invested for nothing. A study costs clause can offer a solution here.

A study costs clause is a clause in which the employee is obliged to reimburse costs that the employer has paid for a training/course/study for the employee if the employee leaves employment.

Judges look critically at the content of such a clause. It follows from case law that it is assessed whether:

• the clause has been agreed in writing;
• it is clear which training and amount are involved;
• the clause specifies the period during which the employer benefits from the knowledge acquired by the employee;
• the amount of the repayment obligation decreases during that period (the so-called sliding scale); 
• the consequences of the scheme have been clearly explained to the employee.
• it is contrary to reasonableness/fairness or good employer practice to (fully) hold the employee to the clause. This may be the case, for example, if the employer has taken the initiative to end the employment relationship.

If you adhere to these rules, it is usually possible to reclaim (partially) the study costs at the end of the employment relationship.

Based on these principles, it is not surprising that the employer could not rely on the clause in the matter below. An employer who had agreed on a study costs clause with an employee requested a dismissal permit from the UWV for his employees, including the employee in question, due to a reorganization. Before the dismissal permit was granted, the employee terminated the employment contract to take up employment with another employer. The Subdistrict Court comes to the conclusion that although the employment contract in this case has been terminated by the employee, this termination in this specific case must be equated with the situation in which the initiative to terminate the employment contract has come from the employer now that it has done so prior to the termination has requested a dismissal permit for the employee. Recovery of study costs is unacceptable according to standards of reasonableness and fairness.