Repayment of Study Fees - When & How?

Study Fees

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Hi All,

I have a question surrounding the repayment of Study Fees to an employer.

If a Study Agreement is in place between an employee and an employer stating that all fees relating to X qualification will be paid by the employer and therefore if the employees leave after 12, 18 and 24 months the total amount payable will be X. I understand this will therefore ensure that the repayment of these fees are not deemed as a penalty and ensure that repayment of the fees are enforcable. 

If however, it does not specify when the fees need to be settled by or does not state a minimum monthly payment; who stands in legal jursidiction to determine how much should be paid and when? 

If the employer wanted the fees paid immediately (lets say for this purpose the employee has already left and the employer did not deduct the fees from the final salary payment) however the employee refused and stated they wanted to settle it over X months at X amount each month. 

Would the employer be able to enforce the immediate payment? Or would the employee be able to dictate the payment plan? 

Any advice/case law would be useful for this purpose.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind Regards,

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paddle steamer
By DJKL
31st May 2016 21:13

No idea without reading the contract.

However as a starting position for discussion, if the repayment being required is triggered by an event, and there is nothing to the contrary advising deferred payment, then a common sense interpretation is surely that the sum falls due on the date the trigger event occurs.

However the devil will surely be in the detail.

As I am myself guilty of negotiating a property contract which failed to have an adequate clause re a deferred payment, which has resulted in our not being able to enforce its payment until the purchaser sells the property, I am probably the last person to comment on interpreting contractual terms. Whilst in our case our solicitors also missed the point it seems to me that a solicitor is probably the appropriate professional to be consulted rather than accountants.

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