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HR buddies

The Covent Garden HR Buddies is an initiative facilitated by Clarkslegal to offer the London HR community the opportunity to meet with like-minded peers, attend relevant seminars and workshops and boost your knowhow of the issues specific to this sector.
 
It’s free and open to anyone interested in HR. It sets its own agenda, so it can be purely social or facilitate presentations to help prevent HR problems for companies in the London area. So if you want to network face to face contact buddy@clarkslegal.com. Click here for further details about our next HR Buddies event.  

If, alternatively, you wish to network online with other HR professionals, then using the discussion forum below, is your ideal opportunity to do so.

Please feel free to post new queries or questions, and/or reply to ones already posted. All you have to do is register a few details, then you will be ready to post your thoughts.

You can post a new query by selecting the tab "new thread". To reply to a post, select that post and then choose the "reply" tab.
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 Time off for training
 
creynolds
115 posts
5th
Joined
12/12/2006
Time off for training
Posted: 19 May 08 9:10 AM

This week buddy was asked:  We have recently received a request by a member of staff for time off to attend a local training course.  We agree with the employee’s contention that the training course will assist the employee in improving her skills and will therefore have a positive impact on her role within the business.  However, we are a small business and it is often difficult to arrange for cover in an employee’s absence.  Do employees have a right to request time off in these circumstances?
creynolds
115 posts
5th
Joined
12/12/2006
Re: Time off for training
Posted: 27 May 08 9:30 AM

Buddy says: Currently, employees do not have the right to ask their employer for time off for training.  Therefore, the decision as whether to allow an employee to take time off in these circumstances will be at the employer’s discretion.  Although employees do not have a statutory right to request time off for training, it is important that requests of this nature are not dismissed prematurely by employers.  Consideration should be given to the nature of the training requested by the employee and to the potential benefits this could offer the business through the employee’s attendance.

However, this position looks set to change under plans recently announced by the Government.
 
Employer Information: The Government has announced plans for the introduction of a right for employees to request time off to undertake training, through its forthcoming Education and Skills Bill.  The Bill will form part of the Government’s draft legislative programme for 2008/2009. It is therefore unlikely that we will see any changes in this respect for some time yet.  The Government is to issue a consultation on the details of the proposals, but it appears that the right will be modelled on the current right for employees to request flexible working. 

The key proposals include: 

  • A statutory right for employees to request time off for training (however, the proposal does not go as far as compelling employers to train members of staff);
  • Employers are obliged to seriously consider any requests that they receive;
  • Employers can refuse a request for training where there is a good reason for doing so; and
  • Employers do not have to pay the salary or training costs.

It is expected that the proposal will be welcomed by both employees and employers alike.  The proposed right will allow employees to initiate discussions with their employer about how they can become a more productive member of staff, thus creating a mutual benefit for both parties.  However, it is believed that this proposal is likely to have a greater impact on smaller companies, who are already struggling to adapt to flexible working.

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