Termination of training contract

charlie2290

Hi,

I am currently 5 months into my training contract with a small/medium sized accountancy firm and am due to sit my CAP1 exams in May. However since the moment I started I have realised that this is not a job I want to do and I have been totally miserable. I did not study accountancy for my leaving or in college but when I got offered the role I felt like I couldnt turn it down in the current climate. I was just wondering where do I stand in realtion to the repayment of fees. I assume I have to pay back fees but would it make a difference if I left before or after my exams in May? Can they force me to pay back fees? And if so would I have to pay back expenses for attending lectures as well? If so this could mount to €3000, which as anybody who has gone through a training contract knows is close to 3months wages!! I dont wish to transfer my contract to any other firm I just want out.

Any advice or opinions from anyone who knows about or has gone through the siuation would be much appreciated.
(I know how lucky I am to have gotten this opportunity but its just not for me and I'm not doing me or the firm any favours by staying!!)

Thanks

cson

Talk to your HR people. Don't be afraid of letting them know your position.

charlie2290

Unfortunately my firm doesnt have any sort of HR manager or officer. The only person that would deal with this is my audit partner and he's not the type of boss that you could have a chat with. He'd go mad if he found out I was leaving so I cant really dicuss it with him.

TiGeR KiNgS

Your just going to have to bite the bullet.

What is it about the work that you don't like ?, specifics would be nice

charlie2290

TiGeR KiNgS wrote: »

Your just going to have to bite the bullet.

What is it about the work that you don't like ?, specifics would be nice

Im just not the kind of person who can sit at desk for 7 hours at a time. I need a job with more interaction with people and doing something I actually have an interest in. Also the lectures at weekends dont help either as I feel like I never get a break from it. Maybe it would be a good fit for me in the future but I just feel it's alot to take on after 4 years of college when your not really sure is it something you can see yourself doing. Just such a big commitment.

Glenbhoy

I'd be very surprised if you had to repay your fees - what does your contract say? Regardless, I think it unlikely that a firm will chase some youngster over a couple of grand, it would be very easy to come to an amicable arrangement in any case - maybe a week or two unpaid would do the trick.
The firm may have already sensed your unease and may agree that you are not suited to the job, your leaving could suit both parties.

Talk to the relevant partner hopefully an arrangement can be reached, and honestly, I don't think he would go mad if he thought you wanted to leave (unless he's your father?), nobody wants someone around who doesn't want to be there (and as you've said, there's any number of capable replacements out there at the minute).

LUCKY8

I was in the exact same position as you 3 years ago and hated practice for the same reasons sitting at a computer screen all day long inputting figures really poor unstructured training and total lack of interaction with the other people....not my cup of tea and same with weekend lectures i found it soul destroying to be working in accoutancy mon-fri and then studying it and attending lectures on same stuff sat and sun it was horrendous...........so i decided to go back to my previous job and told them it just wasnt for me and not the career i wanted, i felt really trapped aswell with being in a 3.5 year contract doing same thing day in day out, and the seniors seemed to has a worse job just working on audit files all day which was even more tediuos and boring than general accounts and when i looked at the audit managers they had an even more boring job just reviewing all our boring tasks so that was not what i aspired to. some people told me i was crazy giving up a position like that saying it was a once in a life time chance and i was first in my family to ever graduate so they thought i was throwing it all away but i just could not hack it every day a dredge so packed it in.................they were fine about it which totally surprised me but they saw it genuinely wasnt for me and wouold be in their interests too that i left , the partner explained to me that he would not want me being there for the next three years hating every day so i worked a weeks notice they offered me the chance to go there and then with a weeks pay but i decided to work the week and they cancelled my contract with aca and told me they would take hit on fees or try transfer them to my replacement.................looking back now i sometimes wonder if i should have given it a better chance and triad to change my frame of mind i would have been due to finish this march and would have been qualified but might have been out of a job then when at least now i have one so dont really know if i made the right choice part of me still thinks i didnt give it a chance but part of me says it wasnt for me and i would have been getting deeper into a job i hated.................go with your heart.............write down on paper the pros and cons of staying/going..........you CAN get out of the contract defo and better sooner than later if you really want to make that move..............but word of advice from experience - have a job to go into before you leave dont just leave and go unemployed it will be so much harder to find another job, if you are really not into it just skip lectures and enjoy your weekends ,i know thats probably not the right thing to say but i couldnt do 7 days of it so i had to take some weekends to myself......best of luck whatever you decide...........please keep us posted.

Spoofer123

The exact same thing happened to me about 18 months ago. I contacted the Institute and they said there are only 3 reasons why a firm can terminate a contract:

1. Internal disciplinary reasons - ie poor performance or discipline. Most contracts will have a 3 strikes and your out rule where you are given 3 warnings prior to contract termination.

2. Within period of probation - This is prob where your firm are able to fire you. As you have not been working 6 - 12 months they can say they are letting you go in your probationary period. If they do not say this IN WRITING!!!! Go to a solicitor.

3. Exam results - This is a grey area. Most contracts refer to exam results, but firms have to be careful when terminating contracts as a result of failing exams. In my contract this was poorly written and my employer was unable to fire me as a result!!!

What I did was copy my contract and send it to a solicitor. Then call the Institute and verify the above 3 points. Finally, I mailed 2 Partners in my firm stating I wanted to meet them to discuss the issue (the firm also had no HR Dept.). In this mail I also CC'd my solicitor and a person in the Institute.

Needless to say the 2 Partners sh*t themselves and cancelled terminating my contract.

YOU HAVE TO STICK UP FOR YOURSELF IN THIS SITUATION AS FIRMS CANNOT SIMPLE FIRE PEOPLE FOR FAILING EXAMS!!!!

Jim2007

Spoofer123 wrote: »

The exact same thing happened to me about 18 months ago. I contacted the Institute and they said there are only 3 reasons why a firm can terminate a contract:

Out of interest did you contact the Institute before or after you talked to the partners?

Glenbhoy

Spoofer123 wrote: »

The exact same thing happened to me about 18 months ago. I contacted the Institute and they said there are only 3 reasons why a firm can terminate a contract:

1. Internal disciplinary reasons - ie poor performance or discipline. Most contracts will have a 3 strikes and your out rule where you are given 3 warnings prior to contract termination.

2. Within period of probation - This is prob where your firm are able to fire you. As you have not been working 6 - 12 months they can say they are letting you go in your probationary period. If they do not say this IN WRITING!!!! Go to a solicitor.

3. Exam results - This is a grey area. Most contracts refer to exam results, but firms have to be careful when terminating contracts as a result of failing exams. In my contract this was poorly written and my employer was unable to fire me as a result!!!

What I did was copy my contract and send it to a solicitor. Then call the Institute and verify the above 3 points. Finally, I mailed 2 Partners in my firm stating I wanted to meet them to discuss the issue (the firm also had no HR Dept.). In this mail I also CC'd my solicitor and a person in the Institute.

Needless to say the 2 Partners sh*t themselves and cancelled terminating my contract.

YOU HAVE TO STICK UP FOR YOURSELF IN THIS SITUATION AS FIRMS CANNOT SIMPLE FIRE PEOPLE FOR FAILING EXAMS!!!!

I'd say the reason you failed was because you didn't adhere to the old maxim - R.T.F.Q.

charlie2290

Ah think there seems to be a bit of confusion. I haven't failed any exams, only started the job a short time ago!!

Does anyone know if they request the fees back can I simply refuse?