Can your employer take training costs out of your final pay?

Updated 8 November 2026

Training repayment clauses are common: you leave within a year or two of a course, and your employer wants some of the cost back, often straight out of your last pay packet. Whether that is lawful depends on what you agreed, when, and how much is taken.

When can an employer deduct money from your wages?

Under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, an employer can only make a deduction from your wages in limited cases. Acas lists them in its guidance on deductions from pay. The main ones are where:

• the deduction is required by law, such as tax and National Insurance
• your employment contract specifically allows it
• you agreed to it in writing beforehand
• it is to recover an overpayment of wages made by mistake

For training costs specifically, Acas says an employer can deduct them from your wages if it is agreed in the contract, or agreed in writing beforehand. A clause you were never shown, or a form you were asked to sign on your last day after the money had already been taken, does not meet that test.

Before you sign a training agreement

The best time to deal with a repayment clause is before you agree to it. If you are asked to sign one, check:

• exactly which course or qualification it covers, and its real cost
• how the amount reduces over time, and when it falls to nothing
• whether you would have to repay if you are dismissed or made redundant, not only if you resign
• whether it allows your employer to take the money straight from your wages

You can ask for changes, such as a shorter repayment period or no repayment if you are made redundant. Keep a signed copy of whatever you agree.

What a training repayment clause usually looks like

Most clauses tie repayment to how soon you leave after the course. A typical one asks for the full cost back if you leave within six months, a smaller share up to a year, and nothing after two years. The clause should say which training it covers, how the amount is worked out, and that it can be taken from your pay.

Read yours closely. Check that the course you did is the one the clause covers, that the amount matches the sliding scale, and that the clause allows deduction from wages rather than only saying you owe the money. If it only creates a debt, your employer would have to ask you to repay or go to court, rather than help itself from your final pay.

The minimum wage limit

Acas is clear that a deduction for mandatory training must not take your wages below the National Minimum Wage. For minimum wage purposes, deductions an employer makes for its own benefit, such as recovering the cost of training it required, reduce the pay that counts towards the minimum.

So if your final pay, after the deduction, works out at less than the minimum rate for the hours you worked in that pay period, the deduction is unlawful at least to that extent. From 1 April 2026 the National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over; our page on the minimum wage has every rate.

What your final pay should include

Your final pay should cover your wages up to your last day, any holiday you have built up but not taken, and notice pay if you are not working your notice. Our page on garden leave and payment in lieu of notice explains how notice pay works. Every deduction must appear on your payslip, so you can see exactly what was taken and why.

How to challenge a deduction

1. Ask for the paperwork. Write to your employer and ask for a copy of the clause or agreement it relies on, the date you signed it, and how the amount was calculated.
2. Check the minimum wage. Work out your pay for the final period after the deduction, divided by the hours you worked.
3. Raise it formally. If the answer does not satisfy you, raise a grievance, even after you have left. Put the amount you say is owed in writing.
4. Contact Acas. Before a tribunal claim you must start Acas early conciliation, and you must do it before the time limit runs out.

The time limit for an unlawful deduction claim

An unlawful deduction claim runs from the payday on which the deduction was made, or the last one in a series. Where that payday was on or after 1 October 2026, you have six months less a day. Where it was earlier, three months less a day still applies. For example:

• a deduction from pay received on 30 September 2026 keeps the old three-month limit, so the claim must be presented by 29 December 2026
• a deduction from pay received on 31 October 2026 gets six months, so the claim must be presented by 30 April 2027

Acas early conciliation can extend those dates. A tribunal also will not look at deductions from wages paid more than two years before you bring the claim. Our page on the unpaid wages claim deadline explains the rules in full.