Business Link is giving employers an early heads-up on the
rights of employees to request time for training in light of
legislation coming into force in April this year.
From 6 April 2010, approximately 11 million employees in Great
Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) will have a new right to
request 'time to train'. This will be extended to cover employees
in all businesses from 6 April 2011.
An employee can request time off to take part in an accredited
programme leading to a qualification, or for unaccredited training
to help them develop job-related skills.
The initiative closely follows the model used for agreeing
requests under the flexible working arrangements and the primary
focus of the new right is about employers agreeing relevant
training with their staff.
Employers are required to consider any requests and respond
within a set timeframe. Requests can be turned down if there is a
good business reason for doing so.
To help employers plan for the new legislation, the regional
Business Link service has launched a dedicated online guide which
can be found by visiting
www.businesslink.gov.uk/eastmidlands/timetotrain
This online guidance is designed to help employers and the
people with responsibility for dealing with training requests to
understand their responsibilities.
For more information, or to access training to benefit you and
your business, contact Business Link on 0845 058 6644 or email
info@businesslinkem.co.uk