Overview of the Right to Request

The Right to Request Time to Train allows eligible employees in businesses with 250 or more staff to ask for time to train for accredited and unaccredited training to help them develop skills relevant to their job, workplace or business. The right is based on the model of the right to request flexible working. It is not meant to replace good training review systems or consultation arrangements already in place in an organisation, though their presence does not prohibit exercise of the right.

Eligibility:

To be eligible to request time for training, a person must:

• work for an employer with 250 employees and above  

• be an ‘employee’

• have served a minimum of 26 weeks service

• not have made a previous request in the last 12 months

Exempt Employees:

The right does not cover employees that are:

• an agency worker 

• a member of the armed forces

• of compulsory school age (‘school age’ in Scotland)

• a young person who already has a statutory right to paid time off to undertake study or training

• 16-18 years old and already expected to take part in education or training

What can be requested:

• be related to the employee’s job, workplace or business

• contribute to personal productivity and business development 

There is no time limit for the length of time that the study or training may take. An employee can request more than one type of training in a request and an employer has a duty to consider them all.

Exercising the right

If an employee decides to exercise the right to request time to train, they will need to submit an application including the necessary information to make it valid. Normally, an employer only has to consider one request from an employee in any 12 month period. If an employee makes more requests than this, the employer may not have to consider them.

There are time limits for employers to hold meetings and issue notices of decisions on requests as well as appeals.

A flow diagram showing the process and the requirements on the employer to consider the application, can be found in the  downloadable mini-guide.