Today’s graduates face a tough labour market – and that puts a great deal of power in the hands of recruiters. Nothing quite illustrates that as much as Capita’s Novus graduate programme.

According to the marketing, it’s designed to “give the best possible start in the IT industry”. When Dave signed up, in exchange for a fee – in his case more than £15,000 – Capita promised to give him some training. And then, if he worked for the company for two years, it would waive the cost.

Fair enough – but there was a wrinkle. He said the training was really poor – often the trainer just didn’t show up, and mostly it consisted of online video courses which he could buy online for about £20 a month. And when the training was done, Capita’s only obligation was to offer him an assignment within three months. He, on the other hand, had to seek permission to work for anyone else – which it would usually refuse. And his employment could be terminated with a month’s notice – and he would then have to pay the whole £15,000. And, worst of all, he could be required to work anywhere, nationwide, for short- or long-term assignments.

That didn’t work for Dave, based in Manchester, when his girlfriend, who lived in Hastings, became pregnant, and he wanted to move to be with her. So he went to Capita to ask for permission to move there. But the answer came back: “Sorry, we haven’t got any clients in Hastings.” Being a dad was going to cost Dave £15,000 – which he didn’t have.

When Dave called me to ask: “Can they do this to me?” I told him I didn’t think so but I couldn’t guarantee the court would agree. So he said it would probably be best for him to stick it out in Manchester. He didn’t fancy starting life as a father a further £15,000 under water.

Dave is not alone. Capita – which has a market value of more than £2bn – runs one scheme. But similar schemes are operated by FDM Group (market value over £1bn) – and quite possibly others. FDM claims to have launched the careers of 5,000 graduates to date. And Capita says it wants to be “the best career choice for talented graduates in the UK”.

All of these graduates are operating in a kind of tied servitude. Tied for years to a faceless behemoth, working off an inflated debt on unfair terms, on something that looks less like a legitimate training scheme, and more like a clever way of hooking in the desperate or naive.

But among the protections the law gives to us all is the right to work and make a living how and where we choose. It’s not an absolute right; the law balances against it an employer’s right to protect its legitimate interests. But here at the Good Law Project, we want to ask the courts to weigh it on the scales against indentured service for inflated training costs on unequal terms. We hope that the high court will declare these arrangements unlawful.

This generation is already labouring under a burden of massive student debt, insecure employment and inflated house prices. It’s time to provide proper protection against rapacious employers.

* Names and locations have been changed.

• Jolyon Maugham QC is a barrister and director of the Good Law Project, which is crowdfunding to meet the legal costs of this case