News
Consultation on the Future of the Right To Request Time Off To Train
20 August 2010
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has launched a consultation on the future of the right to request time to train, which came into effect from April 6 this year, when the legal right for workers in businesses with more than 250 employees to request time to take up relevant training was introduced. As currently planned, this right would be extended to small and medium sized organizations from April 2011.
The Government has announced a review of all regulations in a bid to reduce burdens on business. This consultation aims to gather opinions on the right to request time to train and will feed in to the review. This consultation will be shorter than the normal 12 weeks and will close on September 15. The shorter consultation period will allow all representations to be made before the next meeting of the Government's Reducing Regulation Committee.
BIS is specifically seeking views on whether:
1. The right should be repealed;
2. The right should be retained only for large organizations (250+ employees);
3. The right should be extended to small and medium sized organisations from April 2011 as planned;
4. The right, if retained for large organisations or extended, could be amended so it is less burdensome on employers who already train; and if this could be achieved in ways that do not increase complexity or reduce legal certainty.
The consultation document suggests that there are some strong arguments for retaining the policy, centred on its ambition to promote and support work-based learning and promote training that delivers real benefits for business. On the other hand the current policy does not take account of what the two-thirds of employers who already invest in skills and training are doing. It does not allow businesses to self-exempt themselves. So even where good training systems are in place, employers would still need to consider requests their employees make using this right.
There are ways in which the issues of scope and impact on good employers could be addressed. One approach could be to try excluding those employees who have access to good training systems from being able to make requests under the right. This could be effective in reducing the burden on employers as it could have the effect of reducing the number of requests.
An alternative approach could be to give employers an additional reason to refuse requests where they already operate effective review systems. This may give some employers more certainty in refusing requests. It may also act as a deterrent for those employees who have access to good systems meaning that they would be less likely to make a request. While it may have these effects the risk is that it would not reduce the burden as the employer would still have to deal with requests where they are made.
EFA members are almost entirely large organisations with effective training systems and we believe that your responses will therefore focus on whether this right should be repealed, or amended to avoid over-burdening employers who already invest in skills and training. The views of larger employers are important since it is likely that smaller employers will be urging that the right should not be extended to them in April 2011.
Should you wish us to represent your views in an EFA response, please send a summary of your views before 8 September to berith.aguirre@efa.org.uk. If responding directly to BIS, your response should be sent to time.totrain@bis.gsi.gov.uk by 15 September. Responses can also be submitted online.
The consultation can be downloaded from the BIS website.