Three sets of regulations have been published and laid before Parliament relating to implementation of the new statutory right to request time to train introduced by the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009.
The regulations, which come into force on 6 April 2010, set out the procedural requirements of the right to request time off for study or training, including the particulars that must be stated in the employee's request and the process employers must follow when considering requests. The regulations also make provision for complaints employees may make to an employment tribunal where an employer has breached the procedural requirements and for the maximum amount of compensation that may be awarded if a complaint is well-founded.
The regulations are:
- The Employee Study and Training (Qualifying Period of Employment) Regulations 2010 - these provide that employees must have 26 weeks' continuous employment with their employer in order to qualify for the right to make a statutory request to undertake study or training.
- The Employee Study and Training (Eligibility, Complaints and Remedies) Regulations 2010 - these set out the form of the employee's request and make provision about the circumstances in which an employee may complain to an employment tribunal. The maximum amount of compensation a tribunal may award where a complaint is successful is eight weeks' pay, at the statutory cap on a week's pay (currently £380).
- The Employee Study and Training (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2010 - these provide that employers must follow certain procedures when considering employee statutory requests to undertake study or training.
The right to request time to train will apply to employees of those employers with 250 or more employees from 6 April 2010 and will be extended to all employees from 6 April 2011.