England ’s 22 million workers are set to be given new rights to request time off for training, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills has said.

The scheme is expected to enable around 300,000 people a year to receive skills training who otherwise would not.

The department claims the new measures, which are expected to be in place by 2010, will function in the same way as the flexible working legislation – employers would be under no legal obligation to grant requests, provided they could justify refusal on business grounds.

However, unlike the law governing flexible working, this right to request will be extended to all employees who have worked for their employer for 26 weeks.

Ministers say that one third of employers do not train their staff, which means that eight million employees receive no training at all each year. They hope the legislation will force a culture change so that bosses take the issue of training more seriously.

Innovation, Universities and Skills secretary John Denham said investment in skills is essential in building “a strong and stable economy”.

He also had a word of warning for private and public sector organisations alike: “The employers who do not train run real risks with their businesses. Public services who do not train will struggle to provide the quality of service that the taxpayer expects.”

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