Government consults on employees’ right to request time off to train

The Department for Business Innovation & Skills has launched a consultation on the future of the right of employees to request time off from work to train.

This right is quite new, having only been introduced by the previous Labour government in April 2010, and currently applies to businesses with 250 employees or more, though this is due to be extended to all other businesses in April 2011. Under the right, only employees with at least 26 weeks’ continuous service are entitled to request time off to train, and generally employees can only make one request in any 12-month period. Also, an employee’s request for training must be for the purpose of improving his or her effectiveness at work and to help improve the performance of their employer’s business, although the training need not necessarily lead to a formal qualification. The right does not extend to agency workers.

The decision to consult on this right is part of the Government’s wider belief that employers are burdened by too much regulation; this has, consequently, resulted in Business Secretary Vince Cable recently announcing that a new “one-in, one-out” business regulation system will take effect from 1 September 2010. Under this system, ministers will only be able to introduce a new regulation that imposes costs on businesses if an existing regulation, with an equivalent cost burden, is removed.

The consultation, which seeks views on whether the right to request time off to train should be repealed, retained, extended in 2011 as planned, or modified, closes on 15 September 2010. The Government will then study the comments made and will hopefully publish its response in December 2010. We will of course update you with the consultation’s findings and the course of action that the Government decides to take.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns regarding this consultation or anything else employment-related, please speak to your usual contact at Matthew Arnold & Baldwin, or speak to our employment department on 01923 202020.

UPDATE: The Government is expected to publish its response to this consultation in February 2011.