The People Bulletin

The right to time off to train for employees in organisations with more than 250 employees is being introduced from April 2010, with the legislation being extended to cover all employees from April 2011 at the earliest. This is the result of the consultation published on 18 June 2008 by the department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS): ‘Time to Train’ and forms part of the Children Skills and Learning bill currently going through parliament.

At the present time, it is estimated that a third of employers, covering approximately 8 million employees, offer no training at all.

Led by what is now the department for Business Innovation and Skills, purpose of the new rules, according to the government is to ‘ create a culture in which all employers see investing in the skills of their workforce as one of the most powerful things they can do to drive their business forward’

The new regulations will mean that eligible employees (i.e. those working in organisations of 250 employees or more and who have completed 26 weeks of service ) will be entitled to request time off for training and the request and the practicalities will operate in a similar way to those on flexible working. The government concluded that employers were used to dealing with those requests and will have developed and understood processes and procedures for managing the flow of requests, and thus these could be easily extended to support the new right to request time to train.

Summary points of the new rules:

• An employee may only make one application in a 12 month period.
  Training may take place on site, providing the employee is away from their ‘normal’ duties.
• Timescales are not defined, but a ‘reasonable’ amount of time should be agreed by the employer and employee.
• If the training adds value to the employee and the company, it will not be restricted to recognised or accredited training schemes.
• Although there will be no statutory obligation for the employer to cover the salary or cost of the training, employers will be encouraged to meet the costs wherever possible. Where costs are met, the employee may be required to repay some or all of the costs should they leave the company within a specific time period following completion of the training.

Note that the eligibility criteria and process to request the right to time off for training will be similar to ‘the right to request flexible working’. For example:

• the employee must have 26 weeks’ continuous service;
• the request must be in writing setting out the course details and the benefits the training will bring to the company;
• the employer must arrange a meeting to discuss the request with the employee, within 28 days of receipt, once received;
• the employee will have the right to be accompanied at the meeting by a work colleague or a trade union official, but unlike the right to request flexible working regulations, also a friend;
• the request must be taken seriously and must be reviewed on the merits of the case put forward; and
• requests can be refused, but only on specific business grounds defined in the regulations.

A summary of the original consultation document can be found here: