Security News > 2020 > December > 'Best tech employer of the year' threatened trainee with £15k penalty fee for quitting to look after his sick mum

A company hailed as the UK's top tech employer tried to diddle a former trainee out of £2,000 in unlawfully withheld back pay - and a judge was startled when he discovered how Sparta Global treats its new hires.

The £22k demand could be reduced depending on how long the trainee had worked for Sparta Global before quitting.

Before quitting in mid-2019, eight months into his job with Sparta, Mr Ofonagoro asked bosses if he could be placed with a London-based client because his mother was sick and his previous two placements had been outside the capital.

Sparta Global was recently honoured with the title "Best Tech Employer of the Year" by the UK-based Women in Tech organisation.

The hefty penalty fee for departing trainees was unlawful, the judge found, because Sparta Global either didn't have any information about why the fee was so high or "Disclosure of any such material would damage its case".

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/12/21/sparta_global_employment_tribunal/