my boss wants me to go on a course, I don't want to waste my time AIBU?

Some trainings are linked to a company’s license to operate so it’s imperative that they can prove everyone in the company has taken the training. The same training is done every year (with the content refreshed every so often but usually not annually) and employees have to take it every year regardless of the fact they “know” the content. Some industries are highly regulated and this is linked to regulatory compliance. It’s nothing to do with knowing the content.

@PersephoneSmith why don’t you make a request for the reasonable adjustment of remote attendance based on a) the additional carer expense and b) the unpredictable difficulty of train travel in your wheelchair?

That’s not 100% true. There are people who are uncomfortable with big crowds/ will have to leave way too early/ a lot of other reasons and would expect accommodation to that as their normal place of work isn’t a train ride away ( they have ensured their day to day lives are structured in a way that works for them). It’s different only if a person takes similar distance train in rush hour every day but for training suddenly can’t .

Are you sure that the course material hasn't changed since the last time you gave the course? Company policies about operations and compliance with the law are always changing, it may be as simple as the way contracts are determined in some markets now needs more careful scrutiny. It may not be obvious that the US ban on certain exports to China, also affects UK companies if they are using components that were ultimately sourced from the US, despite the UK company ordering them from Germany. This is the sort of thing that is covered in refresher courses.

Christ

You do realise that as an employee, you get paid to follow management instructions? Pushing back on mandatory learning is a pointless hill to die on. Your cards will be marked as being difficult and not a team player. Possibly even subordinate, given that managers are allowed to allocate you work.

I once had my new team leader pull out procedures I had written, to explain them to me. After that I put my name on each page of all documents I produced.

Yes, I'm aware.

Suck it up. It’s fully paid and mandatory.

They'd need to pay for someone to accompany her, (preferably her carer if their able/willing), stay over & help her get showered/dressed in the morning too.

a lot of hassle & expense to attend a course she wrote!!

Have you specifically asked why is it mandatory for me to attend a course I wrote and trained the person who is delivering it?

This being a discussion forum, which means an exchange of ideas etc, I mearly asked what's good about it, obviously nothing.

Is your boss the top boss, or is there someone above them that you could run this situation by?
They probably would see it as a waste of company time and money, then tell you not to go.

Is your boss trying to make things difficult for you in any other ways?

Sorry if someone has already suggested but can you ask them to set up a zoom link in the room so you can attend that way as a reasonable adjustment to train travel in a wheelchair in this country being so awful?

I am able bodied and get the train a lot and often see people.in wheelchairs hanging around waiting for station staff and ramps. I think you'd probably end up late for the class anyway!

I used to be what we called a 'training adviser' and the first thing I'd always do when working with a company is question their 'mandatory training' as there was usually zero point on post of it.

In a situation like yours, it is a complete waste of time and effort and I'd challenge the bosses to revisit the whole 'mandatory training' schedule as it is obviously utterly batshit.

Putting aside the course contents, I do think the drip feed is relevant because it would be perfectly reasonable to ask for reasonable adjustments in terms of travel and attendance. So that sort of does cross off the travel/attendance bit.

having to attend a course you wrote is just generally bonkers, although I can see what a PP said about reviewing the course delivery could be quite interesting. Are you able to test out of the course? We have mandatory courses at work that we have to do annually (feels more frequent tbh) and we can skip to the end and take the test - if you pass it you don’t have to go through the course materials, but if you don’t then it’s probably worth doing the refresher. Might that be an option?

But she wrote it!!

And surely knowing it is the important part!!

If just showing up is the important thing then the world has truly gone to hell in a handbasket

I thought you were being unreasonable until I saw you wrote the course material ! That’s a hilarious waste of time.

If you have to go, coffee on train, turn off your emails, see how training is being done now and call it a day off.

Would the company let you travel up the night before in off-peak times and stay in a hotel? Forget about the cost, it's not coming out of your pocket.

I’m not sure who suggested risk assessments- but there needs to be a degree of risk assessment for anyone and anything really … it’s enshrined in law so if for some reason your travel arrangements were inherently unsafe then that does need to be factored in

for example asking an epileptic to get a train at 6 in the morning from Manchester to London to be present for a meeting when they would probably normally get up at 7 to start work locally at 9 - unacceptable risk - risk assessment would therefore dictate a reasonable adjustment of travelling down the day before and staying overnight on expenses. Or attending remotely.

someone else mentioned checking the venue is accessible. This also means a risk assessment. Can you easily leave if there was an emergency evacuation ?

I get that you are very independent but people are only trying to help with suggestions. I don’t think they are trying to infantilise the situation or cause offence.

and no - asking for the additional cost to cover the additional care is not putting your head above the parapet!! The meeting is creating a disadvantage, the costs should be met!

going back to the example with epilepsy above, if the person needed someone to accompany them in case of illness, then those persons costs should also be met.

By not holding the company to account for the adjustments they are legally obliged to make then you make the process harder for the people that follow you.

have you actually told your boss that attending the course will cause disadvantage because of the barriers it creates or have you just said you don’t want to go because you feel it’s pointless??

I'd be fascinated to see a course I'd written being given by someone else. I'd like to discover what they bring to it. I'd want to see what bits worked well and not so well, depending on how they were delivered. I'd be interested in whether any of it had dated. I'd like to think I'd left room for the presenter to bring in their own stuff and to adapt the material to their own style.

In fact, now I start to ponder it, I think it should be mandatory for the writers of courses to attend them once a year.

The important issues have been well covered. I just want to add something possibly light hearted in a way, but I think might give OP some satisfaction.

If after attending the course you are asked to give feedback, as attendees often are, please give glowing praise to the course content and note it was written by you. Some one might pick up on how ridiculous it was to make your attendance mandatory. If they do and have the gumption to admit that to you, ask for a day off in lieu.