OGH: Training Costs Cannot Be Passed on to Trainee

Oct 6, 2023 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

An agreement to pass on training costs to the trainee is inadmissible both in apprenticeships as well as in training relationships. It makes no difference whether such an agreement is made at the beginning or only during a training relationship.

The plaintiff in the main proceedings was employed by the defendant dentist as a dental assistant in training. The training relationship was governed by the Austrian collective agreement for dental assistants. The plaintiff agreed to pay the costs of the training herself in return for the defendant’s promise to employ her until the end of the training.

When the defendant terminated the training relationship without notice, the plaintiff had already completed her practical training but not her theoretical training. She paid a total of EUR 4,165 for the theoretical training.

The plaintiff sought compensation from the defendant for the training costs she had paid, arguing that the declaration of acceptance of the costs had been made under undue pressure and that passing on of the fees was unethical.

The Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) held that the training as a dental assistant was suitable to constitute an apprenticeship. The entitlement to a minimum wage (initially EUR 476 before taxes), as in the case of an apprenticeship, expressed that the performance of the trainee was less important than the educational character of the contractual relationship. All in all, the plaintiff’s situation did not differ significantly from that of an apprentice with an apprenticeship contract under the Austrian Vocational Training Act (Bundesausbildungsgesetz, hereinafter BAG). According to Section 9(1) BAG, an apprentice cannot be obliged to reimburse training-related costs. Furthermore, there can be no contractual agreement on the circumvention of this clause.

Passing on the costs of standard dental assistant training to the plaintiff was therefore not permissible.

9 ObA 42/23a (28 June 2023)