5. The law on learning and training at work

The role and rights of Union Learning Representatives (ULRs)

Union learning representatives (ULRs) were given statutory recognition in the Employment Act 2002. Section 43 of the Act introduced a new right for ULRs to take paid time off during working hours in order to undertake their duties and to undertake relevant training.

In January 2010, the advice and conciliation organisation ACAS published a revised code of practice Time off for trade union duties and activities — including guidance on time off for union learning representatives and this provides guidance in this area.

It states that a ULR “is an employee who is a member of an independent trade union recognised by the employer who has been elected or appointed in accordance with the rules of the union to be a learning representative of the union at the workplace.” The union must have given the employer notice in writing that the employee is a learning representative and the training condition is met.

To qualify for paid time off, the ULR must be sufficiently trained to carry out their duties as a learning rep either at the time when their union gives their employer notice that they are a learning rep, or within six months of that date.

In addition to undergoing relevant training the functions for which time off as a ULR is allowed are:

• analysing learning or training needs;

• providing information and advice about learning or training;

• arranging learning or training;

• promoting the value of learning or training;

• consulting the employer about carrying on any such activities;

• preparation to carry out any of the above activities.

The code also says that in some cases it may be helpful if ULRs attend meetings concerning agreeing and promoting learning agreements and that it may be beneficial to employers to grant paid time off for ULRs to attend meetings with external training partners. The ACAS code of practice can be found at: www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/l/q/CP03_1.pdf

Right to request time to train

The right for employees to request time to train was introduced by the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 and came into operation on 6 April 2010. The right was to have been extended to all employees from April 2011, but the government announced in August 2010 that it would consult on whether the right should be extended to smaller companies.

In February 2011 it said that the extension of the right will be postponed to allow the government more time to consider the future of the right.

Time to Train currently operates on a similar basis to the right to request flexible working. Employees are entitled to request time to undertake work relevant training, which employers must formally consider. Employers are entitled to refuse the request if one of a number of acceptable business reasons applies.

The Equality Act and learning and training

The Equality Act 2010 came into force on 1 October 2010, bringing together equalities and discrimination legislation into one Act. It sets out that workers must not be discriminated against on the basis of: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation – these are all “protected characteristics”.

The Act provides protection against direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation in services and public functions; premises; work; education; associations, and transport; and it provides protection for people discriminated against because they are perceived to have, or are associated with someone who has, a protected characteristic, such as carers.

The Act applies in the area of learning, training and skills.

Guidance on the Act provided by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), Your rights to equality at work: training, development, promotion and transfer, gives the following example of how an employer may discriminate against a worker, in this case because they are “associated with a person who has a protected characteristic”.

“An employer does not ask a worker if they would like to go on a training course because they know the worker has a disabled partner who they assist in day-to-day tasks like washing and dressing. The employer assumes the worker would not want to be away from home for a longer than usual working day, which is what the training would involve. However, the worker should still be asked if they want to go on the course. Instead, they have been excluded from this opportunity. This is very likely to be direct discrimination because of disability.”

National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Equalities Officer, Lena Calvert, says that ULRs and other union representatives and officers organising training courses or other learning opportunities also need to consider whether there are particular barriers facing groups of members, such as those from BME communities, women, disabled members, lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender members. Venues can be inaccessible or in appropriate, for example, and considering the timing of courses can be important. “Think out of the box to attract groups to training and then monitor,” she advises.

The unionlearn publication, Opening up learning for all, highlights examples of how union learning can help build equality at work. It describes, for example, how a Skills for Life tutor at the Fire Brigades’ Union (FBU) Morpeth Learning Centre devised a number of teaching strategies to support a worker with a hearing impairment, who was undergoing treatment for this, to be able to gain skills and develop her career. This included using more kinaesthetic and tactile learning resources and creating or downloading learning materials and text-based material — rather than speaking and listening units.

The Labour Research Department (LRD) booklet Law at work 2011 provides detailed guidance on discrimination and the provisions of the Equality Act 2010.