The right for employees to request time off work to undertake study or training – which has applied to employers with 250 or more employees since 6 April 2010 – was due to be extended to all employees, regardless of the size of their employers, from 6 April 2011.
However, following consultation, the Government has decided to delay extending the right to request time off for training to all employees so that it can further scrutinise the potential impact on smaller employers. In the current economic climate the fear is that the potential damage to employers caused by staff absence will outweigh the benefit gained by both the employers and their employees through additional training and study.