Challenge to Government Skills Policy

The central findings of the NIACE annual survey on learning at work – Practice Makes Perfect - poses challenges for current Government skills policy. Whilst the Government lays stress on securing qualifications for people at work, the NIACE survey shows an overwhelming preference for less formal ways of learning to improve job performance. A representative sample of 2,076 workers in the UK were asked which of ten ways of learning were helpful in learning to do the job better.

Learning by doing the job on a regular basis was the favourite method across the age range, for men and women, and for different social classes. Overall, 82% found this quite or very helpful. This was followed by being shown how to do things by others (62%), and watching and listening to others (56%). Just 54% felt that taking a course paid for by the employer or the worker was helpful, followed closely by reflecting on your own performance (53%).

However, markedly fewer of the least skilled, a key target for Government training programmes, found courses helpful. Reading books and manuals (39%), using trial and error (38%) and using the internet (29%) were the least favourite methods.

A second key area of enquiry explored where the main responsibility for the training and development of workers lay - with the worker, their employer, or shared between the two. Just over one in five workers (21%) said that their employer was mainly responsible for their learning at work, whilst more than one in three (36%) accepted that it was mainly their responsibility, with the balance of 39% reporting that it was a shared responsibility. Fewer (28%) of the youngest workers, aged 17-19, felt the main responsibility lay with themselves, whilst 41% of 55 plus employees thought they bore the main responsibility.

Semi-skilled and unskilled workers felt more of the responsibility for development and training lay with the employer, whilst higher numbers of professional and managerial workers expected to take responsibility for themselves.

Alan Tuckett, director of NIACE said: “The survey raises important questions about the balance of our workforce skills policies. Firstly, there is powerful evidence in the survey that the British preference for less formal ways of learning remains deeply ingrained, and that Government should recognise this, by encouraging a culture of learning and reflective practice in workplaces, alongside its drive to secure an increasingly qualified workforce.”

He continued, “Second, the findings about the balance of responsibility for training and development can be read in two ways. On the one hand, Government can interpret the increasing recognition by workers that they need to take the main responsibility for their own development as evidence that its policy focus on securing individual commitment to learning is working well. On the other hand, the figures equally suggest that many workers have less faith in employer-led training and skills policies than Government currently has.”

TUC Submission on Equality and Skills

The TUC has made a detailed submission to the Department for Education and Skills/Learning and Skills Council Skills Strategy Equality Impact Assessment consultation. It says the TUC supports the approach within the government’s skills strategy to focus on the low skilled as the main priority for government funding.

The submission says in particular the government’s Skills for Life Strategy is key for supporting equality through ‘redistribution to the low paid and low skilled, as well as in respect of particular groups including women, people from black and minority ethnic communities and disabled people, who are more likely to be low skilled.’

It adds that the recognition within the consultation of the positive role of unions and Union Learning Representatives in promoting equality in skills is particularly welcome. The submission raises a number of concerns, including a move to give employers greater power over the learning and skills system, which TUC says could undermine efforts to boost equality.

For more details, please see: TUC Submission to Skills Strategy Equality Impact Assessment.

Supporting Professional Women

Professional women are now the fastest growing group of trade union members. The TUC is therefore organising a special half day seminar on 28 June in London, free to members of professional unions like ACM. The event will look at how individual unions are supporting professional women in the workplace; and how unions can support women to challenge barriers to success.

Speakers at the event include Jim Fitzpatrick MP, on how the government is supporting professional women, and Baroness Margaret Prosser who will speak on the lessons for professional unions arising from the Women at Work Commission. There also will be a choice of workshops; and lunch is provided.

If any member is interested in attending this free event, please send a message and contact details to the ACM Helpline.

Meeting Notes Satisfied Statutory Procedure

The Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) has found that a written note of a grievance, recorded by a manager at a meeting with the complainant, was enough to satisfy the requirements of step one of the statutory disputes procedure.

The statutory procedure requires that a grievance is put in writing to an employer before an employee can pursue the matter at an employment tribunal. This is step one of the procedure. In other EAT cases, resignation letters, e-mails and solicitors’ letters have all been ruled as meeting the step one requirement.

In this particular case, a complaint of discrimination was made to a manager at a meeting and the details were recorded accurately at the time. The EAT chairman concluded, “In my view, Parliament cannot have intended an employee, who has previously made a complaint of such discrimination to his employer and had it recorded in writing, to be debarred from an Employment Tribunal for failing to comply with Step one”. (Kennedy Scott Ltd v Francis EAT 0204/07)

Although the statutory disputes procedure is likely to be around for at least another year or so, it’s future is the subject of a current government consultation. We reported it previously at this blog post.

Agency Workers Not Self-Employed

Thousands of agency workers will be entitled to greater employment rights after a ruling in favour of a group of Polish workers in the food processing industry, saying they should be considered employees rather than self-employed.

The case, Kalwak & others v Consistent, will have important implications for thousands of agency workers across all sectors; and for the agencies who employ them, some of whom evade paying holiday pay, sick pay or pension rights by classing their workers as self-employed. The judgement was made after Consistent had appealed against the original Employment Appeals Tribunal decision.

Unite, the new union created out of a merger between TGWU and Amicus, has been pursuing the case against Consistent since the members, who worked at Welsh Country Foods in Winsford in Cheshire, were evicted from their accommodation following dismissal in 2005. The ruling enables Unite to take the workers’ case to the next stage to claim for unfair dismissal and victimisation for trade union activities. The Polish workers involved had recently become organised into the union, as part of the drive to organise workers throughout the food processing industry.

In reaching the decision, the Employment Appeals Tribunal highlighted the  firm measure of effective control over the claimants’ working lives. The chairman said, “They told them when and where they had to work, they might deny them days off, and they provided them with transport and accommodation (taken away, as it proved, without notice).”

Tony Woodley, Joint General Secretary of Unite, said: “This judgement is an unequivocal statement on the employment rights of agency workers. There are thousands and thousands of workers across Britain who are subject to appalling treatment because of agency exploitation of their vulnerability, and this judgement has blown their so-called ’self-employed’ status out of the water.

Colleges Could Face Fixed Penalty Fines

In future, colleges could face fixed penalty notices if they break safety and other types of regulation. The Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill, published last week and currently out for consultation, could lead to new powers for regulators such as the Health and Safety Executive, local authorities and even the Information Commissioner.

The government says the Bill will provide a new expanded framework for regulatory sanctions. It will give Ministers authority to confer on specified regulators, new civil sanctioning powers including the use of fixed monetary penalties. The aim, says the government, is to create a system of sanctions that is both responsive and proportionate.

Further details can be found at the cabinet office website.

Free Training Announced For Young Adults

Adults under the age of 25 who have missed out on education and training opportunities will be able to get free tuition to obtain a first, full level 3 qualification, equivalent to 2 A levels, from this August.

The new entitlement for the key intermediate technician level skills employers say they need will provide routes back for those who left education early and want to return to improve their qualifications and job prospects.

Announcing the new entitlement Bill Rammell, Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education said: “The entitlement will encourage young adults to continue studying until they achieve the equivalent of 2 A levels and make sure they can get the qualifications to improve their life chances, social mobility and contribute to the economy.

Referring to Leitch the Minister said, “The Leitch Review of skills recognised the importance of raising the number of people qualified to A level equivalent. Higher intermediate skills are increasingly critical to the success of business and productive employment. We lag behind France and Germany in the proportion of our young adults achieving A level equivalent qualifications in their early twenties. Introducing a free entitlement up to A Level will help address this problem and bring us closer to a coherent package of support for learners up to the age of 25.”

The new entitlement will be available from August 07 through colleges of further education and other providers of high quality education and training who have satisfied the Learning and Skills Council quality assurance process.

The Further Education White Paper Further Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances announced the introduction of a new entitlement for a first full Level 3 qualification for those aged 19 up to 25 on the date they start their programme, supported by an expanded Adult Learning Grant (ALG), new funding for both of which was announced in the Budget on 23 March 2006. The new 19-25 entitlement and national roll-out of ALG will both be implemented from August 07, creating a new integrated package of support for young adults continuing their initial education to Level 3.

The entitlement is expected to benefit some 60,000 learners in 2007/08, enabling more young adults to achieve higher level technical and professional qualifications.

Pay Offer Rejected

The six unions representing staff in English colleges have rejected the Association of College’s (AoC) recent pay offer. At a meeting of the National Joint Forum held on 16 May, the AoC offered a 2% pay rise from 1 August 2007, and a further 0.5% in January 2008.

Commenting on the AoC offer, ACM General Secretary Peter Pendle said, “Our members will be very disappointed with this. It is less than the current rate of inflation, and falls short of our aim of parity with schools. However, we welcome the opportunity for further talks, including clarification of the AoC’s response to the other elements of our claim.”

The joint union claim called for a significant pay rise including some element of a flat rate payment to take account of low pay. Among other items it also called for starting salaries for management and leadership staff to be at least equivalent to those for leadership posts in schools (£34,938 in September 2007), and an agreement to commence negotiations on a national consensus on workloads and work-life balance.

Survey Confirms Fears for Adult Learning

The annual Adult Learners’ Week survey on adult participation in learning, The Road to Nowhere? – commissioned by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) – reports half a million adults lost to learning in the last year. The proportion of adults currently learning or having done so in the last three years has fallen to 41%.

A third of all adults (34%) say they have done no learning whatsoever since leaving full-time education and the survey also shows – as in previous years - that no significant progress is being made to encourage those adults who left school earliest and those who are amongst the poorest in society to engage in learning. In fact overall participation of poorer people is around half that experienced by the upper and middle classes (27% of DEs compared with 55% of ABs and 48% of C1s).

More Support For Work Wise

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) is the latest supporter of Work Wise UK, the major five-year initiative that aims to bring about a fundamental change in working practices in the UK.

IOSH has joined the TUC, CBI and British Chambers of Commerce in encouraging a ‘workstyle revolution’ through the widespread adoption of new smarter working practices, such as flexible working, including compressed hours and nine-day fortnights, remote and mobile working, and working from home.

IOSH, Europe’s largest professional body for occupational safety and health, is supporting Work Wise UK because of the occupational health benefits of the widespread adoption of these new smarter working practices.

Lisa Fowlie, IOSH president, said: “It is widely accepted that flexible working can help employees achieve a proper work-life balance. A feeling of lack of control over workloads and pressure to work 24/7 may lead to stress. Many people have to work overtime or commute long distances, which adds hours to their working day. Enabling employees to achieve a proper work-life balance will help to reduce ill health absence.

IOSH believes wider adoption of flexible working practices will improve business productivity and profitability and help to improve the environment by reducing transport congestion and pollution. An important bonus is that it helps employees cope with their family commitments. A recent survey found that more than a quarter of employees had missed family and social occasions for work and one in five had cancelled or cut short holidays for work.

Work Wise UK is a five-year initiative to promote the wider adoption of smarter working practices such as flexible working (including condensed hours and nine-day fortnights), mobile and remote working, and working from home. It is backed by the TUC, CBI, British Chambers of Commerce, BT, Transport for London, Equal Opportunities Commission, RAC Foundation, Association of Commuter Transport, SCOPE, Henley Management College and Technology Means Business.

Returning From Maternity or Parental Leave

Members who return from maternity or parental leave would naturally expect to return to the same job they have always done. Regulation 2(1) of the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999 says: ‘job’, in relation to an employee returning after additional maternity leave (or parental leave) means the nature of the work which she is employed to do in accordance with her contract and the capacity and place in which she is so employed;”

In a recent case heard by the Employment Appeals Tribunal, a primary school teacher was allocated a different class to teach upon her return from maternity leave. She claimed that this was not a return to the “same job” as when she left. Whereas previously she taught the reception class, she was told that upon her return she would teach year two, something she had no previous experience of doing.

The question which arose in this case was whether the job she returned to was classed as the “job in which she was employed to do before her absence”.

The court found that the appellant was employed as a teacher and not specifically as a teacher of a particular class. As a teacher, she could be required to teach any class within her school.

However, the court did find that she had suffered a detriment on a related matter because the teacher while on her maternity leave had not been asked, unlike all her colleagues, which class she preferred to teach in the following year. Blundell v. St Andrew’s Catholic Primary School EAT 0329/06

Clearly this case shows that when considering the suitability of jobs and the application of the law, the small print in a member’s contract will be particularly relevant. Any member who has concerns on this matter is advised to contact their ACM regional officer.

Concessionary Fees For Older Learners Justified

The government has finally responded to concern that fee concessions for older adult learners may be unlawful as a result of the Age Regulations.

Bill Rammell, Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, in a statement to the house this week, pointed out that it was never the intention of the Government to see a reduction in provision for older learners as a result of the regulations. He said that although it is now unlawful to discriminate against someone on grounds of age in vocational training (which includes all further and higher education), the Age Regulations do permit “objective justification” of discrimination in specific circumstances.