Workers could lose right to request time to train

A worker’s right to request time off for training could be scrapped under a government review that aims to reduce the burden on businesses.

Skills minister John Hayes has announced a five-week consultation on the future of the regulation, which came into force four months ago for organisations employing more than 250 staff and will apply to smaller firms from next April.

Similar to a flexible working application, under current legislation employees are able to request time off for training that would benefit themselves and their business, provided there is sufficient cover for their job role. Employers are required to detail any refusals of these applications in writing.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said the results of the consultation would “feed into a review of all regulations in a bid to reduce burdens on business”.

Hayes commented: “Before we make any decisions about the future of the right to request time to train, it is important that we gauge views of the regulation and whether it is improving training opportunities for employees.”

Business groups have welcomed the move and have said they will campaign for the “costly” time to train legislation to be repealed.

Adam Marshall, director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “We strongly believe that the time to train regulations should be scrapped in their entirety. The process obligations they impose on smaller businesses are inappropriate, costly and potentially confusing when they are combined with other legal obligations.

“Regulations such as these also provide yet another route to employment tribunal, allowing disgruntled employees an opportunity to threaten legal action due to paperwork and bureaucracy.

Mike Harris, head of education and skills policy at the Institute of Directors, added: “The right to request time off for training is a spectacular bad policy. It simply isn’t necessary to wrap discussions about training between employers and employees in formal rules and regulations.”

But the TUC expressed concern over the proposals. Its general secretary, Brendan Barber, said: “The right to request time to train has opened new doors for workers to get the skills they need to further their careers. We are concerned that this latest consultation will simply weaken the right as a favour to business organisations who consider support to train staff as nothing more than burdensome red tape.

“Reducing existing support for staff will send out a powerful message that the UK government and its business representatives do not consider skills a priority – a short-term attitude that will damage our future economic competitiveness.”

The CIPD emphasised the importance of line management policy agenda in ensuring adequate workplace training.

“Overall, the right to request time to train is a generally positive but light-touch regulation,” said Ben Willmott, the CIPD’s employee relations adviser. “We do not believe it causes a red-tape headache for employers but its removal will not have a significant impact on the amount of learning in the workplace, as the key driver of learning and development is management behaviour.”

The consultation will close on 15 September, after which the government will consider whether to continue, amend or scrap the entire scheme or remove its future application for businesses employing less than 250 staff.

Source People Management