A training contract is regulated more tightly than an ordinary employment contract: the law prescribes what must be in it and itself strikes out what may not be.
The training contract: required content and void clauses
The contract must be drawn up in text form before training starts. Some clauses are void by law whether or not you signed them.
✓ Verified: 02/08/2026
WHAT TO DO
DOCUMENTS 3
› Details and tips
👩🏼💼
Lea recommends:
Read the clause about what happens after training. Repayment and tie-in clauses are usually void, yet people live for years feeling bound by them.
👨🏻💻
Max recommends:
My contract had a penalty for leaving early. I learned by chance that such clauses are void, and the fear left along with the paragraph.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
When must the contract be drawn up? ▾
Without delay after the training contract is concluded and at the latest before training begins, in text form. Starting work without a drawn-up contract is therefore already a breach of the proper procedure.
What must it contain? ▾
The law sets a minimum: names and addresses of the parties, and for minors those of their legal representatives; the nature, structure in content and time, and aim of the training, in particular the occupation; the start and duration of the training. Provisions on pay, holiday and termination follow.
Which clauses are void despite my signature? ▾
An agreement restricting trainees in their occupational activity after training ends is void — except an undertaking, entered into during the final six months, to take up employment with the training company. Also void are payments for the training itself, contractual penalties, and the exclusion or limitation of damages claims.
How long may the probationary period be? ▾
The training relationship begins with a probationary period, which must be at least one month and at most four. A longer probationary period in the contract does not comply with the law.