\n
\nThe subcontract for construction works provided for the following mechanism: should an employee be found to have breached health and safety regulations, the subcontractor would not face the usual contractual penalty, but would instead be obliged to send the offending employee on a compulsory, paid health and safety training course organised by the main contractor. The cost of the training was borne by the subcontractor. The training covered precisely those health and safety issues that had been breached, and the price of the training corresponded to the typical contractual penalty for that type of breach.
\n
\nThe line between a creative solution and circumventing the regulations can sometimes be blurred.
\n
\nIf the training is actually carried out \u2013 it takes place, with a programme, a trainer and participants \u2013 then the mere fact that its subject matter and price coincide with a typical contractual penalty does not in itself determine the outcome. The parties are free to agree on the remuneration for a service actually provided, and a breach of a particular standard may indicate a genuine need for training.
\n
\nIf, on the other hand, the training exists only on paper \u2013 nobody actually conducts it and nobody takes part in it \u2013 then the term \u2018training fee\u2019 is irrelevant. What matters is what actually took place: a contractual penalty is concealed under the guise of training (Article 83 of the Civil Code).
\n
\nThe result? The fictitious \u2018training\u2019 ceases to exist in the eyes of the law, and in its place the contractual penalty returns \u2013 which must then be assessed in the same way as any other penalty in a subcontract. This includes assessing whether it is not more severe than a comparable penalty provided for in the contract with the contracting authority (Article 463 of the Public Procurement Law).
\n
\nThere is also a tax trap here. A contractual penalty is not subject to VAT, but a training service is. The contractor should therefore issue an invoice to the subcontractor and account for the tax, which they would not have done in the case of a standard contractual penalty.
\n
\nClauses of this kind will become increasingly common. The market is looking for ways to circumvent the restrictions under Article 463 of the Public Procurement Law, and changing the name is the simplest way to do so. Before anyone introduces such a mechanism into a contract, however, it is worth asking directly: is there a genuine service behind this arrangement, or is it merely an attempt to circumvent the rules on contractual penalties?
\n
\n<\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The subcontract for construction works provided for the following mechanism: should an employee be found to have breached health and safety regulations, the subcontractor would not face the usual contractual penalty, but would instead be obliged to send the offending employee on a compulsory, paid health and safety training course organised by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bez-kategorii"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
A training fee or a hidden contractual penalty? | Hoogells<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hoogells \u27a4 A training fee or a hidden contractual penalty?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A training fee or a hidden contractual penalty? | Hoogells\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hoogells \u27a4 A training fee or a hidden contractual penalty?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hoogells\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-11-02T13:30:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-11-02T13:47:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Grzegorz Majewski\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Grzegorz Majewski\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Grzegorz Majewski\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/5e273b631b018e96a9cddfc45c1a0c4d\"},\"headline\":\"A training fee or a hidden contractual penalty?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-02T13:30:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-11-02T13:47:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/\"},\"wordCount\":422,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Bez kategorii\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/\",\"name\":\"A training fee or a hidden contractual penalty? | Hoogells\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-02T13:30:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-11-02T13:47:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"Hoogells \u27a4 A training fee or a hidden contractual penalty?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A training fee or a hidden contractual penalty?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Hoogells\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Hoogells\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/logo.svg\",\"caption\":\"Hoogells\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/5e273b631b018e96a9cddfc45c1a0c4d\",\"name\":\"Grzegorz Majewski\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03a30b8433646c185fe9b7254572f01ef563c3ff381c4812136bc20c091b6c3a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03a30b8433646c185fe9b7254572f01ef563c3ff381c4812136bc20c091b6c3a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Grzegorz Majewski\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/grzegorz-majewski-6b078a14b\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/author\/grzegorz-majewski\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A training fee or a hidden contractual penalty? | Hoogells","description":"Hoogells \u27a4 A training fee or a hidden contractual penalty?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A training fee or a hidden contractual penalty? | Hoogells","og_description":"Hoogells \u27a4 A training fee or a hidden contractual penalty?","og_url":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/","og_site_name":"Hoogells","article_published_time":"2026-11-02T13:30:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-11-02T13:47:57+00:00","author":"Grzegorz Majewski","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Grzegorz Majewski","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/"},"author":{"name":"Grzegorz Majewski","@id":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/5e273b631b018e96a9cddfc45c1a0c4d"},"headline":"A training fee or a hidden contractual penalty?","datePublished":"2026-11-02T13:30:49+00:00","dateModified":"2026-11-02T13:47:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/"},"wordCount":422,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Bez kategorii"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/","url":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/","name":"A training fee or a hidden contractual penalty? | Hoogells","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-11-02T13:30:49+00:00","dateModified":"2026-11-02T13:47:57+00:00","description":"Hoogells \u27a4 A training fee or a hidden contractual penalty?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/a-training-fee-or-a-hidden-contractual-penalty\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A training fee or a hidden contractual penalty?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/","name":"Hoogells","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#organization","name":"Hoogells","url":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/logo.svg","caption":"Hoogells"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/5e273b631b018e96a9cddfc45c1a0c4d","name":"Grzegorz Majewski","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03a30b8433646c185fe9b7254572f01ef563c3ff381c4812136bc20c091b6c3a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03a30b8433646c185fe9b7254572f01ef563c3ff381c4812136bc20c091b6c3a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Grzegorz Majewski"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/grzegorz-majewski-6b078a14b\/"],"url":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/author\/grzegorz-majewski\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4135"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4136,"href":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4135\/revisions\/4136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoogells.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}