Time off for training

Overview

• Employees in organisations with 250 or more employees (but not agency workers) can request time off to undertake study or training.
• The original intention had been to extend this to employers with fewer than 250 employees from April 2011 but in July 2011 the government announced that this would not happen 'for the foreseeable future'.
• The study or training need not lead to the award of an actual qualification, and may take place in or out of the workplace.
• The qualifying period to benefit from this right is 26 weeks’ continuous employment.
• Employers do not have to pay for the time off. But for those employees who earn the National Minimum Wage or little more, there may be an obligation on the employer to pay for the time spent training to ensure that total pay in any reference period satisfies NMW requirements.

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Procedural requirements

• The application must give details of the proposed study or training, i.e. its subject matter, where and when it will take place, who will provide/supervise it, and what qualification (if any) it would lead to. It must explain how the employee thinks the study or training would improve their effectiveness in the employer's business or the performance of the employer's business. It must also state when the employee's last application for time off for training (if any) was submitted.
• The employer must either hold a meeting with the employee to discuss the application, or agree to the application in writing, within 28 days of receiving it.
• Employers can reject a request for the following reasons:
  • the study or training would not increase the employee’s effectiveness or the performance of the employer’s business
  • the burden of additional costs
  • a detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand
  • inability to reorganise work among existing staff or recruit additional staff
  • a detrimental impact on quality or performance
  • an insufficiency of work during periods when employee proposes to work, and
  • planned structural changes.
• The employer must, following the initial meeting, notify the employee in writing of its decision within 14 days.
• If the employer's decision is to grant the application, this notification must also make clear to the employee whether he or she will be paid for the time off spent training, any changes to the employee's working hours needed to accommodate the training, and how any tuition fees or other direct costs of the training will be met.
• Where the decision is to refuse an application, the notification must spell out which of the business reasons apply and contain a sufficient explanation as to why that reason applies. It must also set out the appeal procedure.
• An employer can grant an altered form of the application by agreeing variations with the employee. Both parties can also agree to an extension of the statutory time limits as long as the agreement is recorded in writing by the employer and is given to the employee.
• An employee can appeal against an employer's decision to reject their application by giving notice within 14 days of being told of the rejection. This notice must be in writing, set out the grounds of the appeal and be dated.
• The employer must then hold a meeting with the employee to discuss the appeal within 14 days of receiving the employee's notice of appeal. The results of the appeal must be communicated to the employee within 14 days of the appeal.
• If the decision is to reject the appeal, the notice must state the grounds for that decision, as well as a sufficient explanation as to why those grounds apply.
• Employees have the right to be accompanied at a meeting to discuss their request (and at an appeal hearing), and any breach (or threatened breach) of this will lead to an award of 2 weeks' pay (capped at the statutory rate of £400 per week).
• Employees have to tell their employer, within 14 days, if they fail to start or complete the training or if the training differs from that agreed.
• Only one training request can be made in any 12-month period, but one application can contain a request to undertake more than one course.

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Employment protection measures

• Employees have the right not to be dismissed or subjected to any detriment on the grounds of making (or proposing to make) an application for study or training.
• Employees can complain to a tribunal if an incorrect procedure has been followed or an application rejected on incorrect facts. A tribunal may tell the employer to reconsider the application for time off or award compensation, the maximum amount of which will be 8 weeks' pay (capped at the statutory maximum of £400 a week (£430 from 1 February 2012)).

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Resources

• Business Link website for full guidance for employers on the right to request time off to train. Guidance for staff can be found on the DirectGov website.
• Time to Train: example scenarios of handling requests - BIS guidance.
• The Policies and Documents section contains various time off work policies covering study leave, career breaks and sabbatical leave (subscribers only).

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