Renewal Of S.i.a Licence And First Aid At Work

[loulou111]

My partner's company has told him he has to pay for the renewal of his S.I.A licence fair enough. But have said said he has to do a first aid at work course but he has to pay surely this can't be right? . Any legal info would be welcomed he simply can't afford it.

[Zacs-Master]

Is he self employed or on the books?

[Buenchico]

If he's self-employed (with company simply working as an agency that puts work his way), then the company can insist that he undertakes training at his own expense. (It's akin to me saying to someone who wants work tidying my overgrown garden that I won't employ him unless he can prove to me that he's a qualified tree surgeon. He can't expect me to pay for him to undertake such a course. If he wants the work he'll have to pay for his qualification).

If he's an employee, then the employer should pay the costs of the actual training but, unless the time spent on the course would take his average pay to lower than the National Living Wage (or his contract states otherwise), the employer isn't obliged to pay for the actual time spent on the course.

For further advice, your partner should phone the Acas helpline:
https://www.acas.org.uk/contact
(Several people on this site have reported that it can take a while to get through but that it's well worth the wait, as the advice is always accurate and helpful).

[Hymie]

More than 20 years ago I was a first-aider at work – a position for which I volunteered.

My employer paid for the course and for my time on the course (at my normal pay rate), they did the same for the 3 yearly refreshers. They also paid me a nominal sum on top of my salary for being a first-aider at work.

Had the company wanted me to lose any money or time being a first-aider for them – I would have told them to sling their hook.

[Buenchico]

^^^ If we're into anecdotes, I'll also mention that 40 years ago I was concerned that the school that I taught in (with 800 pupils) didn't have a qualified first-aider. So I volunteered to take the course. I was unsurprised that it was in my own time (as nearly all in-service training for teachers was in those days) but I kicked up a hell of a fuss when the local education authority sent me a whopping great invoice!

I got the invoice overturned but still ended up spending the next decade dealing with everything from minor grazes to arterial bleeding (often with several calls upon my time in a day) without any extra pay for doing so. (Indeed, as I often found that the only way to get hold of a supply of dressings, etc, was to buy them myself, I was actually out of pocket through doing so).

[William51]

I am also renewing my SIA licence and my company is paying for the First Aid course and the Security Guard renewal course. The company should be paying for it.