Many employers invest in their staff by paying for training courses and may wish to recover some or all of that investment if an employee leaves shortly afterwards. This is commonly addressed through a training costs agreement requiring the employee to repay an agreed proportion of the costs.

The agreement should be signed before the training begins. Employers should also ensure that they have the employee’s prior written agreement to make any deduction from wages, whether in the employment contract or in a separate agreement. The repayment provisions should be clear, proportionate and carefully drafted if they are to be enforceable.

In the recent Court of Appeal decision in Geeks Ltd v Watts [2026] the Court held that a clause requiring the employee to repay £8,108 was an unenforceable restraint of trade.