The Labor Contract Law restricts the liquidated damages agreed between the employer and the employee, and Article 22 stipulates that if the employer provides special training fees and professional technical training for the employee, it may conclude an agreement with the employee to stipulate the service period. If the laborer violates the service period agreement, he shall pay liquidated damages to the employer in accordance with the agreement. The professional and technical training stipulated in the Labor Contract Law should be different from the vocational training that enterprises usually provide to workers. In the process of employment, in order to improve workers' labor skills and proficiency and make them better serve employers, employers often need to provide vocational training for workers. This kind of vocational training is also the obligation given to the employer by the labor law. Employers cannot require workers to agree on the service period and liability for breach of contract just because they provide vocational training. Because the law does not clearly define the connotation and extension of professional technical training, how to distinguish professional technical training from vocational training has become a difficult point in practice, and judges need to judge according to the specific circumstances of the case.

According to the trial practice, when determining whether a training is vocational training or professional technical training, the following aspects can usually be considered:

The first is the content and purpose of training. The content of vocational training is generally based on the knowledge and skills that workers need in their daily work, and sometimes it involves the study of some auxiliary knowledge. The main purpose is to improve the daily labor efficiency and quality of workers. The content of professional technical training is relatively professional and generally highly targeted. For example, after the company introduces complete sets of equipment, it needs to train special personnel to be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the equipment; Units according to their own business needs to send workers to the relevant institutions for further study, in order to obtain the corresponding qualification certificate or qualification; In order to expand a certain business, the unit sends employees to carry out targeted study and training to master the skills necessary to engage in new business, and so on; The content of the above training is generally the knowledge or skills that the workers do not have in advance, or the special knowledge and skills that the workers have not mastered and can not skillfully use although they have the corresponding foundation. The purpose of training is to enable workers to be competent for higher-level or more professional jobs.

The second is the object of training. The scope of vocational training is generally unrestricted, which can include all workers in the unit or all employees engaged in a certain type of work. This is a common training. The object of professional and technical training is individual workers, usually selected by the employer after strict selection, and it is professional and personalized training.

The third is the form of training. Generally speaking, vocational training does not need to be conducted on a full-time basis. Usually, it is to give lectures and concentrate on training after work, or to receive training while working, which takes up less normal working hours. Professional and technical training usually requires workers to study and further study for a long time because the training content is more professional and complicated.

The fourth is the training cost. Vocational training costs are included in the daily employee education funds by the employer, and the amount allocated to each employee should generally not be too high. The training fee for professional and technical training is usually high, and the employer may have to pay additional expenses such as transportation, accommodation and training allowance. The above training fees and expenses need to be included in the employer's special training fees and budget.