For once I’m posting a serious thread... I need advice

My wife works in nursery and is been made to give up 2 Saturdays to do a first aid course.

Should my wife be paid for the 2 days or does she have to give them up and do it

 

If it's not a normal working day I'd expect her to be paid for it or be offered time off in lieu

 

What does it say in her contract?

 

Difficult one. If she needs the qualification to maintain her role then she may have to undertake training when available. No matter what, she should be either paid or given time back. Most contracts in this sector include a claus stating they may need to work different hours to keeo up their CPD (continual professional development. I would ensure she checks out her contract. Private Nurseries are poor at contracts so my guess is it wont be covered.

 

If her employer says she must take the course, she has to be paid.

 

Either way with sufficient notice time off or overtime if not.

 

As @JamDrop says, it depends on what it says in her contract. A friend of mine works in a supermarket that changed ownership, and when that happened she voluntarily signed a new contract. She then got asked to do a course in her own time, only to find that she'd agreed to it by signing a contract without reading it properly. She wasn't happy but she had no choice.

In fact, all questions of the form "Can my employer insist that I.......etc etc?" can be answered with "It depends on what is written in the contract".

 

Thanks all I’ll find her contract and see what is says, (if we can find it lol )

 

Stahlrost is spot on- contract is key!

Saying that, I've known of people who had similar clauses who were still able to recoup a fee for their time spent on such courses.

At the very least your Mrs might be able to negotiate the nursery covering her travel expenses etc.

 

Is making an issue of being paid to do a course worth spoiling relations with the employer also doing a first aid course is the most important course people can do. Everyone should have to do it being paid isn't the most important thing, it could save someone's life.

 

Working in a nursery she's probably on minimum wage; making her do extra hours without pay will take her below minimum wage which is illegal. I'm sure they'll try to exploit her though.