Is an employee obliged to reimburse an employer for training costs incurred by the employer when the employee resigns or is dismissed? The answer here is that should an employer spend money on training and employee, then the employer should enter into a written agreement with the employee before the training commences, to agree on the cost of the training, and to agree that should the employee resigns with in a certain period of time, or be dismissed through no fault of the employer, then the employee would be required to reimburse the employer for the training costs incurred.
If there is no such agreement, then it is implied that the employer is satisfied to spend the money on training the employee, without requiring the employee to reimburse the employer should certain circumstances arise.
If there is no such agreement, the employer is no legal entitlement to demand repayment of training costs purely on the grounds that the employee has now resigned – such requirements must be entered into by written agreement before the training commences. Another reason for this is that the employee must be given opportunity to refuse to undergo the training, and he may well do this if the training is to be expensive, and the employee has no intentions of remaining in the service of that employer until he retires, but is merely using that employer as a stepping stone in his career path.
Should an employee give notice of resignation, but the employee requests to leave the employment immediately, then the employer has the right to grant that request, but then the employer is not obliged to pay the employee for the period of notice given. The employer also has the right to refuse such a request from the employee.