New Legal Right to Take Time off to Train 
Added : 8th July 2008
If you would like to discuss this further with our HR Consulting team, then please call 0800 0665 894 or email Clare Johnson on clarej@cooperparry.com.
The Government has recently announced that draft legislation is being produced which it hopes will increase the number of people who gain new skills, become more productive in the work place and develop better careers.
The Government has done this by introducing draft legislation to expand and strengthen apprenticeships and by giving the legal right to employees to request time off work to attend training.
Modelled on the right to request flexible working, if the draft legislation comes into force, employers will be legally obliged to seriously consider requests for training they receive from their employees but could refuse a request where there was a good business reason to do so. Employees will also have the right to appeal against a decision if their request is rejected. Employers will not be obliged to meet the salary or training costs to enable a request for time to train but many may choose to do this, recognising the potential mutual benefits for both parties.
The draft legislation requires that an employee will need to make a formal request for the time off, outlining how the training will benefit both the employee and the employer. The training attended by the employee will not necessarily have to be an accredited programme; it could for example be a short, unaccredited training course. If the employee has more than 26 weeks service then the employer will then need to seriously consider the request but it may be rejected if there are good business reasons to do so.
The draft legislation is currently going through a consultation process and this is due to close on 10 September 2008. If you would like to discuss this further with our HR Consulting team, then please call 0800 0665 894 or email Clare Johnson on clarej@cooperparry.com.
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