Dated: 23 February 2009
In advance of today’s Second Reading of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill, the Institute of Directors (IoD) has raised serious concerns about the proposals to introduce a legal right for employees to request time away from their work to undertake training.
Whilst the IoD fully supports the emphasis the Government has placed on the need to improve the UK’s skills profile, it argues that its ‘Time to Train’ policy is the wrong way to seek to achieve world class skills.
Mike Harris, Head of Education and Skills Policy at the IoD, said:
“There are numerous objections to this policy. The case for legislative intervention on training is weak. Nor will new laws drive the ‘culture change’ the Government seeks. Above all, these proposals go beyond being merely the wrong solution; they will also inevitably inflict new administrative costs on employers. This is undesirable in any case. In the middle of a recession, it is spectacularly unhelpful.”
Mike Harris continued:
“The Government should look again at this policy and act quickly to reduce its impact – particularly on those employers who already take training very seriously. Over 90% of IoD members’ organisations currently provide training. They have well established procedures for analysing and discussing training needs – more than three quarters use regular appraisals to review and manage employees’ performance. Where discussions on training already take place, the Government simply does not need to interfere any further.”
