Derwent Training Association Limited v Mr Michael Smith — 2023

The Respondent had withdrawn his own claims, so the hearing concerned only Derwent Training Association Limited's counterclaim for repayment of training costs under the employment contract. The contract provided that, where the company supported further education or training, the employee would have to refund the course fees or training costs if he left within 12 months of course completion.

The tribunal found that the Respondent completed a 2-year PGCE on 1 July 2022, a TAQA Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement on 6 August 2022, and a City and Guilds Level 2 Diploma in Electrical Installations on 7 August 2022. He gave notice on 9 August 2022 and his employment ended on 21 October 2022. The claimant invoiced him for £10,395, and by the date of the hearing he had paid £270 in six instalments of £45, leaving £10,125 outstanding.

The Respondent argued that the PGCE and TAQA costs should be broken down by modules and that some modules were completed more than 12 months before the end of employment, so they were not recoverable. The tribunal preferred the claimant's submission that the relevant question was when the qualification as a whole was completed, not when individual modules were passed, and it rejected any distinction between programmes and courses for this purpose.

Applying objective contractual interpretation and referring to Lukoil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd v Ocean Tankers (Pte) Ltd [2018] EWHC 163, the tribunal held that the ordinary meaning of 'course completion' was completion of the qualification. It found the Respondent in breach of contract and ordered him to pay £10,125 as damages.