An Usdaw briefing on a statutory right to Workplace Learning Committees

Date: 12 April 2005

An Usdaw briefing on a statutory right to workplace learning committees

Usdaw and other unions have negotiated voluntary agreements with many employers to establish workplace Learning Committees. The more progressive employers see the advantages of these committees, the less progressive drag their feet.

What do Workplace Learning Committees do?

• Provide a mechanism for Union Learning Reps and employers to work together to develop a learning culture in the workplace.

• Promote access to, and involvement in, learning - be it job specific training, career development or personal development.

• Co-ordinate a variety of learning initiatives - both internal and Government funded (eg Employer Training Pilot ETP) - and help ensure learning initiatives are inclusive. They provide a valuable platform to ensure Essential Skills/Basic Skills remain on the agenda.

• Help identify and receive reports on the learning needs within the workplace.

• Provide a mechanism that can be used to liaise on a regular basis with learning providers that are linked to the workplace.

• Jointly manage an Employee Development Fund in order to help make learning affordable for staff.

Who sits on a Workplace Learning Committee?

The composition of a workplace Learning Committee varies according to the size and complexity of the workplace. It usually includes:

• All or some of the site Union Learning Reps.

• A Senior Operational Manager together with representatives of the company training function.

• Often the provider/s is/are invited to attend the meetings.

• Often the Union or the TUC project worker would be invited to help and advise on learning matters, and sometimes union shop stewards/convenors.

What would a right to a Workplace Learning Committee contribute to the skills strategy?

Whilst Usdaw and other unions have reached voluntary agreements with many employers to set up Learning Committees, putting them on a statutory footing would:

• Give workplace Learning Committees status, help to consolidate them and place them on a similar footing to Health and Safety Committees.

• Encourage the more reluctant employers to establish Learning Committees and consequently work jointly with their Union Learning Reps.

• Raise the profile of Learning within Unions and with Employers.

• Encourage providers to seek out and work with staff members and ULRs who are enthusiastic about building a learning culture.

• Help ensure Government funded projects did not simply replace training that the employer was already undertaking (ie help to ensure additionality).

Employers who have set up Learning Committees with Usdaw include Tesco, Sainsbury's, Littlewoods, Heinz, Shop Direct/Reality, Grampian Foods, Wincanton, Sundora Foods and others.

What form could a right to a Workplace Learning Committee take?

Usdaw believes establishing a Learning Committee within a workplace could use a similar mechanism to establishing a Health and Safety Committee.

In order to acquire statutory rights, Union Learning Reps have to undertake an appropriate training course and be qualified. Placing the Learning Committee on the same footing as the Health and Safety Committee would mean that:

• Where an employer has received a request in writing from two qualified and recognised Union Learning Reps from their staff within a workplace, the employer would be obliged to establish a Learning Committee.

• The scope, size and shape of the Learning Committee would be a matter for discussion and agreement between the employer and the relevant trade unions.

• The Learning Committee would aim to develop initiatives to develop a learning culture in the workplace and to up-skill the workforce.

• There would be an obligation on external/public agencies and the employer to consult with the Learning Committee when Government subsidised learning programmes were being undertaken/promoted within the workplace (eg ETP, Apprenticeships, Essential Skills and ESOL programmes).

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 obliges employers to set up safety committees at the request of two Safety Reps. The Regulations that accompany the Act state:

"Regulation 9

1. For purposes of section 2 (7) of the 1974 Act (which requires employers in prescribed cases to establish a safety committee if requested by safety representatives), the prescribed cases shall be any cases in which at least two safety reps request the employer in writing to establish a safety committee.

2. Where an employer is requested to establish a safety committee ... he shall establish it in accordance with the following:

a) He shall consult with the safety reps ... and with the representatives of recognised trade unions ... in respect of which he proposes that the committee should function ...

c) The committee shall be established not later than three months after the request for it"

This right only applies in those workplaces that recognise trade unions and only when it has been requested by employees of the company.

TUC Congress 2004 - Composite 18 Learning and Skills

"...Congress also calls on the Government to set up statutory workplace learning committees to ensure that employers work with ULRs in every workplace to deliver the training and learning that is relevant both to the needs of the business and the aspirations of the staff ..."

The TUC is also committed to securing statutory rights to framework learning agreements between recognised unions and employers. These agreements should include workplace Learning Committees.

For more information including a sample of the Terms of Reference of a Learning Committee see Usdaw's Lifelong Learning web site in the Learning Agreements section and on the TUC's web site in the Learning Agreements Section.

An Usdaw briefing on a statutory right to Workplace Learning Committees was correct at print April 2005.

Download File:
An Usdaw briefing on a statutory right to workplace learning committees [ doc ]

If you do not have the software to download this attachment you can download it here.
This is a large document - which may take some time to display.
If you have problems viewing it, you can 'download' this file by 'right-clicking' the link, and saving the document to your desktop. Then, open the saved document in the normal manner.
[ Get a player/reader for this file here ]

 Printer Friendly Page

 Email to a Friend

© 2003 (USDAW) Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
This page: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/lifelong_learning/resource_library/1110290245_26757.html
Last Modified: Thursday, 14-Apr-2005 19:16:00 EST