What is a study costs clause?
A study costs clause is a clause agreed between employer and employee, stating that an employee must repay the training costs incurred by the employer if he/she (prematurely) terminates the employment contract, or if the employer ends the employment contract for a reason within the employee’s sphere of risk.
Conditions for a valid study costs clause:
With the entry into force of the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Act on 1 August 2022, a study costs clause is valid if:
- it relates to non-mandatory training
A study costs clause is void if it relates to training that the employer is obliged to offer free of charge under EU law, national law, or a collective labour agreement (Section 7:611a(4) of the Dutch Civil Code). - it meets the criteria from relevant case law (Muller/Van Opzeeland), meaning that the law does not object to clauses stating:
– the period during which the employer is deemed to benefit from the training followed by the employee;
– that the employee must repay wages if the employment contract ends during or immediately after the training period;
– that the repayment obligation decreases as the employment contract continues, during the period referred to under (1) (the sliding scale). - the employer has fulfilled its duty to inform or explain. The employer must have clearly explained the serious consequences of the clause to the employee.
Statutory limits on invoking a study costs clause:
Special statutory rules can limit the invoking of a study costs clause. Think in this context of:
- the Dutch Minimum Wage and Minimum Holiday Allowance Act (recovery under the study costs clause may not cause the wage to be paid to fall below the minimum wage).
- the Attachment-Free Allowance Regulation (the attachment-free allowance must always be respected. This prevents the (former) employee from no longer being able to provide for necessary living expenses).
Further limitation of the study costs clause
A study costs clause can be further limited by:
- reasonableness and fairness (Section 6:248(2) of the Dutch Civil Code).
The subdistrict court of the District Court of Zeeland-West-Brabant recently ruled (ECLI:NL:RBZWB:2025:5729) that if the employer itself took the initiative to end the employment, enforcing repayment can be contrary to reasonableness and fairness. - the requirements of good employership (Section 7:611 of the Dutch Civil Code).
Set-off against the transition payment
Under certain conditions, study costs may be deducted from the transition payment, provided the employee has agreed to this in writing in advance. This does not apply, however, to the costs of mandatory training.
Note: if there is both a valid study costs clause and the possibility of deducting training costs from the transition payment, the costs under the study costs clause cannot be deducted from the transition payment. This follows from the Decree on conditions for deducting costs from the transition payment.
Should you have any questions following the above, or wish to receive legal advice? Then contact us by emailing info@thelegalcompany.nl or calling 020-3450152.
