In order to improve employees' business skills at work, employees are always given some training, such as on-the-job training and skills training. Then employees will pay more attention to who will pay for the training. If a training contract is signed, how can they compensate for the breach? Below, we will briefly introduce the relevant information of liquidated damages agreed in the training contract.
First, the service period and liquidated damages can be agreed.
Liquidated damages can be agreed by the parties concerned or directly stipulated by law. It is the money that one party should pay to the other party when it breaches the contract, and it is a main way to bear the liability for breach of contract stipulated in the Civil Code of People's Republic of China (PRC) (implemented from June 202 1+0). However, whether and how to set liquidated damages between employers and workers in labor relations is not clearly stipulated in China's labor law. However, in practice, many local laws and regulations have introduced the concept of liquidated damages, but the provisions are different. The "Labor Contract Law" strictly limits the circumstances in which workers can bear liquidated damages. It stipulates that if the employer and the employee agree on the service period, both parties may agree on liquidated damages. Article 22 of the Labor Contract Law also restricts the circumstances in which the service period can be agreed: if an employer provides special training fees and professional technical training for workers, it may conclude an agreement with the workers to stipulate the service period. In other words, only after passing the qualified special training can the enterprise agree on the service period with the employees. This kind of special training is mainly reflected in two special aspects: first, the employer must provide special training fees; Second, training must be professional and technical training, not other vocational training.
Second, the special training agreed liquidated damages
1. About special training expenses
There is no clear definition of "special training fee" in the Labor Contract Law, but considering the relevant provisions on training in the legislative background, the special training here should be the special funded training for workers by employers. If the training provided to the laborer does not actually generate training fees, or the training fees generated do not belong to special training fees, the employer may not agree with the laborer on the corresponding liquidated damages.
Employers provide training for workers, which generally includes induction training, on-the-job training, safety and health training, technical skills training, academic education training, etc.
Does it mean that as long as the employer actually incurred the training expenses due to the aforementioned training, it can agree with the employees on liquidated damages? The General Provisions of the Labor Law and Article 68 clearly stipulate that it is the employer's obligation to provide employees with safety and health training, pre-job training for technical jobs and training to improve their post quality. The author believes that even if this part of the training unit actually generates training expenses, it cannot agree with the workers on liquidated damages. Similarly, for the job training, job rotation training and job adjustment training when workers enter the company, it is generally not recognized that the employer has provided special training fees and conducted professional and technical training.
2. About professional and technical training
The Labor Contract Law does not stipulate whether professional and technical training is full-time training or on-the-job training, nor does it stipulate the training time. Therefore, enterprises can choose the training type and training time according to the actual situation.
The Labor Contract Law emphasizes that the investment training that can be agreed in the eye period should be professional and technical training. But what is professional technical training? Are the MBA education for managers and the marketing skills training for salespeople funded by employers professional and technical training? The "Labor Contract Law" does not specifically elaborate on professional and technical training, but also needs supporting laws, regulations and related explanations to be specific and clear.
Third, the number of training fees and liquidated damages _
Article 22 of the Labor Contract Law stipulates the liability for breach of contract for workers who violate the service period agreement: if workers violate the service period agreement, they shall pay liquidated damages to the employer according to the agreement. The amount of liquidated damages for violating the service period shall not exceed the training expenses provided by the employer. In case of breach of contract, the liquidated damages paid by the laborer shall not exceed the training expenses that should be shared for the unfulfilled part of the service period.
As can be seen from the above provisions, the labor contract law has strict restrictions on the amount of training fees and liquidated damages.
About training expenses
Obviously, the training cost must be the actual cost of training. What needs to be understood is that the relevant expenses paid by the employer for employee training can include transportation, accommodation and teaching materials during the training period. If an employee is studying off-the-job, or can't or can't complete the task due to taking part in the study, the unit can appropriately adjust the R-capital and bonus payment standards during the training period according to the work and assessment standards; For employees who use their spare time for training and complete their work tasks on time, the unit shall pay wages as usual. Therefore, the wages paid by the employer to employees during the training period are not training expenses and cannot be used as a part of liquidated damages. As for the settling-in allowance, it is very easy to cause disputes because of its unclear expression and definition. Therefore, employers should avoid using the term "placement fee" in training agreements and clearly define their fees as training fees.
The "Labor Contract Law" does not clearly stipulate the payment time and payment conditions of training fees, and the employer can clearly stipulate it in the training agreement/service period agreement with the workers. Regarding the payment time, some employers adopt the way that employees pay first and then the unit reimburses, and set conditions for the reimbursement of training expenses. If the laborer fails to meet the agreed conditions, the employer shall not reimburse him.
quantity
The Labor Contract Law sets the upper limit of liquidated damages paid by employees in violation of the service period agreement as the training expenses provided by the employer, and the amount of liquidated damages decreases in proportion to the service period that employees have already performed, that is, if employees violate the service period agreement, the liquidated damages paid shall not exceed the training expenses that should be shared for the part with less than the service period.
The above are our answers to the questions related to liquidated damages stipulated in the training contract, hoping to help everyone. Liquidated damages can be agreed upon during training, and certain conditions can be set for reimbursement of training fees. Whether the contract stipulates liquidated damages mainly depends on the agreement of both parties. For more relevant knowledge, you can consult Guiyang lawyer!