The Stagecoach Training Bond

[Busman792]

I have been working for Stagecoach for just shy of 1 year now but I feel the time has come to move on. But, the matter of the training bond concerns me. Do I have to pay it back if I leave? Would I have to pay back the full amount or just what is left? Does the training bond consist of deductions in pay and does this show in the deductions section of the payslip? And finally, does the training bond still exist? I have received mixed and varied answers elsewhere to these questions so am hoping someone here may be able to assist me!

 

[Stan Drews]

I have been working for Stagecoach for just shy of 1 year now but I feel the time has come to move on. But, the matter of the training bond concerns me. Do I have to pay it back if I leave? Would I have to pay back the full amount or just what is left? Does the training bond consist of deductions in pay and does this show in the deductions section of the payslip? And finally, does the training bond still exist? I have received mixed and varied answers elsewhere to these questions so am hoping someone here may be able to assist me!

Any stipulations regarding a training bond should be clearly set out in your contract of employment. I’d dig that out and read it, rather than listening to canteen gossip!

 

[tramboy]

I have been working for Stagecoach for just shy of 1 year now but I feel the time has come to move on. But, the matter of the training bond concerns me. Do I have to pay it back if I leave? Would I have to pay back the full amount or just what is left? Does the training bond consist of deductions in pay and does this show in the deductions section of the payslip? And finally, does the training bond still exist? I have received mixed and varied answers elsewhere to these questions so am hoping someone here may be able to assist me!

As the poster above has suggested, it'll be a good idea to read the bond you signed (which you will have a copy of) to answer some of these questions. The bond itself is an addendum to your contract of employment - which will contain the necessary clause about deductions etc.

As some generalisms:

• Yes, you will have to pay the bond if you leave before it expires (usually 2 years). It doesn't matter if it does/doesn't still exist now (although in most operators it still does) - you signed a bond on joining.
• Depending on how it works, most Stagecoach companies have been deducting the bond from your pay during the time you've been employed and it should show on your payslip. This means that if you do leave, that will be retained by Stagecoach, and you then owe the remaining value.
• Some of that value will be deducted from any final pay.
• The rest will then be passed to their debt collection team for discussions as to how you intend to pay off the value.

Hope that helps.

 

[Simon75]

As a non driver, what is one ?

 

[XAM2175]

As a non driver, what is one ?

Some companies will make you repay some or all of the cost of your training if you leave too soon.

 

[Megafuss]

Some operators will pay off the bond for you if they are that desperate for staff.

Xelabus for example state that "previous training fees covered" on its vacancies page.

 

[hoopy316]

I worked for Stagecoach for 16 years so I think I'm pretty well qualified to answer.

Usually yes they want you to pay it back. Not always. Why are you leaving and where are you going I can think of a number of reasons they would let you go without having to pay the bond.

 

[Busman792]

I worked for Stagecoach for 16 years so I think I'm pretty well qualified to answer.

Usually yes they want you to pay it back. Not always. Why are you leaving and where are you going I can think of a number of reasons they would let you go without having to pay the bond.

I'd be going to another local company. I've got about 6 months left of the bond as things stand now. Its now a mixture of reasons really, I'm not enjoying working for Stagecoach and they are closing my depot soon and sending me off somewhere else.

 

[hoopy316]

I'd be going to another local company. I've got about 6 months left of the bond as things stand now. Its now a mixture of reasons really, I'm not enjoying working for Stagecoach and they are closing my depot soon and sending me off somewhere else.

In that case they would hold you to the bond. However your depot manager could waive it. You would need to speak to them. Usually if going to another company they will hold you to it. If you were leaving the industry then maybe not.

 

[WibbleWobble]

As has been said above, check the contract. But I'm sure that you wouldn't pay the full amount, as for every month you work there is the equivalent of a month's instalment on a pay monthly agreement for, say, a car or new TV (unless that has changed since I left nearly a decade ago!)

 

[M803UYA]

As has been said above, check the contract. But I'm sure that you wouldn't pay the full amount, as for every month you work there is the equivalent of a month's instalment on a pay monthly agreement for, say, a car or new TV (unless that has changed since I left nearly a decade ago!)

I'm assuming Stagecoach did issue the OP with a contract of employment when they joined the organisation. I worked for them, but at a different company in an office based role and never saw one!!

Something like a training bond there'd be paperwork to sign for that. There would have been deductions over the time period specified so the OP is in for a few hundred at this point. Stagecoach will try to get the remainder back and they certainly make checks on the balance.

The training provider I went to in the end (after a few attempts with bus operator training schools) told me that a lot of their custom came from the local Stagecoach company where they'd rejected drivers out of the training school after exhausting their attempts at the test. I paid around £1600 for my training which included pass protection which I considered sensible as it's a hard test to pass.

 

[Towers]

If they're closing your depot then presumably they cannot force you to relocate to another base elsewhere? I would have thought that might give you an 'out' if you were to hang on until the end, as at that point they have chosen to close down your place of work rather than you choosing to leave?

 

[Roger1973]

If they're closing your depot then presumably they cannot force you to relocate to another base elsewhere? I would have thought that might give you an 'out' if you were to hang on until the end, as at that point they have chosen to close down your place of work rather than you choosing to leave?

That again would depend on what's in the specific employment contract here, and (if it got to a tribunal) what that tribunal considered 'reasonable'.

And presumably if a depot is being closed (or moved) there's some negotiations going on about what will happen - if it's Stagecoach, then presume we're talking a unionised workplace?

Are all current routes moving to a different depot/s, or are some routes being transferred to a different operator? If the latter then there might just be a case for 'TUPE' transfer to new operator, although you generally have to work a majority of your working time on the route / group of routes that's being transferred, so this is only likely to apply if there's separate driver rotas for different routes (as often happens in London.)

At some points in time, a depot closure might lead to driver redundancies - are they expecting that here? Or are they short enough of drivers to want to hang on to everyone? They may be seeking volunteers for redundancy, and with less than 2 years' service, there's no statutory redundancy pay, so writing off the training bond of newer drivers may be an option company is prepared to go for rather than paying redundancy to long service drivers.

Although there's no obligation on employers to offer voluntary redundancy, or to give redundancy to anyone who volunteers (and there are a few employers out there - I trust not in this case - who will not give redundancy but make life difficult for anyone who does volunteer.)

And it depends how far the move is (I'm not expecting the OP to go in to specifics / identify their location here.) A mile or so away is probably not going to make a lot of difference.

Some employment contracts (not just bus drivers') have a clause that you can be expected to work at any location in X county, or within Y miles of the work base you're taken on at. Some will include a negotiated 'disturbance allowance' (or whatever it's called locally) where you get an additional payment of X amount for 6 months (or something) per mile per week for the distance between old and new base.

I believe there is some case law on this - expecting someone to move to a work base that's an 'unreasonable' distance away can sometimes count as redundancy.

But what's 'reasonable' (as far as the law is concerned) will take specific circumstances in to account. From memory, something like expecting a senior manager to move to a base 10 miles or so away is probably OK, expecting the same from the office cleaner who's employed for an hour a day and would have to catch 3 buses each way probably isn't reasonable.

All of the above subject to the disclaimer that I am not a lawyer or HR person, and it's a while since I have been a trade union rep...

 

[henryb]

Whete

I'm assuming Stagecoach did issue the OP with a contract of employment when they joined the organisation. I worked for them, but at a different company in an office based role and never saw one!!

Something like a training bond there'd be paperwork to sign for that. There would have been deductions over the time period specified so the OP is in for a few hundred at this point. Stagecoach will try to get the remainder back and they certainly make checks on the balance.

The training provider I went to in the end (after a few attempts with bus operator training schools) told me that a lot of their custom came from the local Stagecoach company where they'd rejected drivers out of the training school after exhausting their attempts at the test. I paid around £1600 for my training which included pass protection which I considered sensible as it's a hard test to pass.

Where was this training school/ what is its name