News: Telephone and Writing Skills
FSB: Cut bureaucracy from firms' training considerations
26 August 2008
Small firms keen on facilitating writing skills training, customer service training or similar developments should not have to face "the heavy hand of regulation", it has been claimed.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) responded to this week's consultation on the government's push for employees to have the right to request time off for training.
According to the organisation, meetings to discuss potential training opportunities should be informal - and without union representation - for smaller enterprises.
"Most small businesses engage in training for their workforce as there are a higher percentage of under-skilled employees working within smaller businesses compared with bigger firms," observed the FSB's education and skills chairman, Colin Willman.
"The FSB is concerned that the employee's right to request a meeting to discuss time off to train will not only lead to an extra layer of bureaucracy, but will also lead to panic amongst small businesses that a refusal could be interpreted as constructive dismissal," he continued.
Mr Willman concluded that "keeping it informal" between employer and employee would make it easier to identify necessary training within a given organisation.
According to the FSB's biennial survey of 20,000 small business owners, just over three quarters of such firms undertake some form of training. 
