News and features

Tue, 13 Dec 2011

'Seven in ten' back time off for training

Employees support proposals for legal entitlement to request training time.

Some 71 per cent of the UK workforce would like to see a new legal right for them to take paid leave for training and development, according to a new report.

The poll from YouGov, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and skills organisation Unionlearn, found that a further 53 per cent of workers said they would probably exercise such a right should it be introduced.

Support for the proposal was strongest among 18 to 24-year-olds, 82 per cent of whom agreed that employees should be entitled to ask for paid time off work to learn new skills. Within this group, 59 per cent said they would ask for more training if they had the right.

Individuals with no formal qualifications also backed the plan, with 76 per cent supporting the right to training-time and 56 per cent saying they would be likely to use it.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "This polling shows that workers have a great zeal to learn new skills."

In June, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills announced plans to introduce a right to request paid-leave for developing skills.