Why not simply create employment contracts that bind the respective apprentice/employee to the company, say, for 5 or 7 years (or whatever) if they fear that the employee will be poached?
This is pretty common [edit - in the UK], and there are distinctions made in law to stop this being abused (e.g. "if you leave you owe us a million for the basic training cost")
[context, liquidated damages clauses are OK in an employment contract, penalty clauses are not]
> Case law has clarified that in order for a clause to be a liquidated damages provision rather than a penalty, it must be a genuine reflection of an employer’s pre-estimate of loss that it is likely to suffer if the employee breaches that provision. If an employer is unable to quantify the exact loss that would be suffered, a best guess of the likely loss would be satisfactory. - See more at: http://rosenblatt-law.co.uk/bulletins/are-repayment-provisio...
[snip]
> The key to a repayment sum being regarded as a genuine pre-estimate of loss appears to be that the sum specified must be compensatory and not ‘in terroreum’ or simply a deterrent to breaching the contract - See more at: http://rosenblatt-law.co.uk/bulletins/are-repayment-provisio...
http://rosenblatt-law.co.uk/bulletins/are-repayment-provisio...
My last job paid for a good portion of my masters, every time I was reimbursed for tutition there was a set amount of time I had to still be with the company or I had to repay a certain amount.
Ended up leaving before finishing my degree due to really hating the company, I was prepared to hand back 15k, but they never even bothered asking for it. Same thing happened to a coworker of mine, though it was substantially less money in that case.
Another solution I've seen was in the US. Some pharmacies will train pharmacy technicians and incur the expenses themselves. The tech license, however, is only good so long as they are employed at that company. (folks can pay for such training on their own dime, which can transfer between employers).
And yet a third solution: I looked into becoming an electrician in the late 90's (in the US, specifically Indiana). The local electricians union provided schooling and training, no cost to you, so long as you stayed with the union employment for something like 4-5 years lest you pay back the schooling costs. I'm pretty sure the local plumber's union did something similar.
Both countries have methods of reclaiming such money - the court systems. Both can withhold money from your paycheck for such things as well, if you don't pay. In the US, that amount is something like 25% of your paycheck, so long as you are left with 30 hours wages at minimum wage. In addition, they can likely take away any professional licenses you obtained until you pay it back.