An employee signed an agreement according to which, if he does not complete three years of employment, he will reimburse the company for his training expenses. Shortly before completing the period pursuant to the agreement the employee was resigned and in his final wage the company offset the debt due to his training expenses.
The National Labor Court held that pursuant to the case law, because this is a unilateral commitment of the employee for a minimal employment period, as opposed to a mutual commitment to an employment agreement for a fixed period, and while it infringes the employee's freedom of occupation, it is necessary to examine whether the provisions of the agreement are proportionate.
In our case, during the employment period there was a reduction in the employee's wages, the amount of training paid was part of the company's expenses, and the employee was trained alongside another employee, so that some of the training expenses were not just for him. In light of all the circumstances, there is no reason to require the employee to reimburse the training expenses.