British Workers Eye ‘Statutory Right’ to Training

Guaranteed Training Time: If Gordon Brown gets his way, every worker in Great Britain will be guaranteed the right to pursue skills training. In a speech before Parliament in May, the British prime minister told lawmakers that “every adult should have the right to a second chance in education—to have the chance to make the most of their potential,” by pursuing career training that benefits individuals and their employers.

“It is unfair, and [threatens] our country’s future prosperity, that many qualified young people are still denied access to an apprenticeship,” says Brown, who is calling for legislation that gives “every suitably qualified young person” a statutory right to obtain an apprenticeship. Implementing such a measure would cause the number of apprentices in Britain to balloon to 210,000 by 2011, a threefold increase.

Reportedly, Brown’s far-reaching proposals put pressure on companies to oblige people’s request to take time off from work to pursue professional growth. Companies can refuse requests for valid business reasons, but in granting time likely would model the arrangements on Britain’s existing worker right for flexible scheduling—a measure that’s gaining steam globally. Companies would not be required to pay for the training.

“Leaving the unemployed without the skills they need to obtain work is costly for our prosperity and unfair to both benefit claimants and those who pay taxes,” Brown says. To that end, he announced a plan to wean about 1 million people off public assistance, with the government planning to “legislate a duty on the unemployed to have their skills needs assessed and to acquire skills.”