Question:
I signed a vocational training agreement with the company, which included a commitment to work for the company for a certain period after completing the training. However, upon completion of the training course, the company informed me that it would not continue to sign an employment contract with me. In this case, am I required to reimburse the training costs that the company has paid?
Answer:
Under the law, an employee’s commitment to work for the employer after completing training is the basis for the employer to bear the training costs. The obligation to reimburse training costs arises only when the employee breaches such commitment, for example: unilaterally terminating the training agreement before its expiry; refusing to work for the employer after completion of training; or working for less than the committed duration.
In this case, the reason for not continuing the employment relationship is that the employer decided not to sign an employment contract with the employee after the training ended. This is a cause attributable to the employer, which frustrates the purpose of the training, and the employee bears no fault. Therefore, the employee is not required to reimburse the training costs paid by the employer.
Pursuant to Article 40 of the 2019 Labor Code on the obligations of employees who unilaterally terminate an employment contract unlawfully:
- The employee is not entitled to severance allowance;
- The employee must compensate the employer an amount equivalent to half a month’s salary under the employment contract, plus an amount corresponding to the salary under the contract for the days without notice;
- The employee must reimburse the employer for training costs as prescribed in Article 62 of this Code.
Accordingly, the obligation to reimburse training costs arises only when the employee unlawfully and unilaterally terminates the employment contract. Where the employment relationship ends because the employer refuses to continue the contract, the employee is not subject to reimbursement of training costs.
