There has been quite a lot of topical media coverage of late highlighting that international nurses are forced to repay thousands of pounds if they want to quit their jobs. The Guardian states that some nurses are being asked to repay as much as £14,000 and feel forced into staying even when they are being bullied or want to return home for a family emergency. Link.  

  

Certainly some of the accounts that the Guardian and other media entities referred to in regard to international nurse repayment costs are concerning, and goes back to the importance of conducting international recruitment in an ethical and sustainable fashion. 

  

However it is important to also see the value of reimbursement clauses in context. Cash-stretched healthcare organisations, crippled by the cost of Agency staff and rising costs, are choosing to invest in international talent – often paying all of the relocation costs and then investing further time, resource and effort in upskilling that team member in order that they can become long-term members of the team.  

  

What they don’t want to do is to attract team members who see them as a “free ticket to the UK” yet have no intention of staying with them long-term. As soon as they have passed their OSCE test, they move on to the organisation down the road or move across the UK to be closer to a family member or friend.  

  

In this scenario, the employer has acted in good faith and the reimbursement clause acts as a disincentive to the candidate from choosing that employer if they have no intention of staying in the long-term. It also gives the process of “international recruitment” a bad name. Similarly, it is important to note that in many cases, if an individual does want to move on to another organisation, it is often the new organisation who funds this clause rather than the candidate themselves. 

  

Clawback clauses are undoubtedly a controversial topic, but they often have their place in international recruitment if they are implemented in a proportionate and reasonable fashion, and discretion is used to ensure that enforcement is appropriate. 

  

We work with employers who have not enforced the payback clause if it is not appropriate (e.g. the individual is returning to their home country due to mental health difficulties) or it is felt that the reason the individual is leaving is genuine, rather than a “bait and switch” type of activity. 

  

A key part of the recruitment process should involve trying to ascertain if the individual truly has a passion for relocating to that organisation specifically, though as always with interviews, it is sometimes the case that you are told what you want to hear! 

 

My Healthcare Recruit supports UK healthcare employers in the public, private, and care sector to find international nurses who are a great fit for their organization, by using market-leading video interviewing tools to connect them to our database of qualified candidates. Our innovative approach makes international candidates easier to find and more cost-effective to source than ever before. Find out more at www.myhealthcarerecruit.com.