Who should pay for professional membership?

[WorkRelatedName]

Posting here for traffic. Currently having a debate with my husband following on from my yearly appraisal with my boss last week.

I work in a specialist (ish) role, very unique and there is an optional membership to a group that can provide support, networking etc in relation to my role. It's not like the GMC, NMC etc. It's not something that is mandatory for my role, however my boss wants me to sign up to it as it will show her that I am committed to progressing in the field. The membership is less than £200 for a year and I was going to sign up to it as I am dedicated to my role and keen to progress.

My husband has flipped it around and said, well if my boss is keen for me to progress (she is), then she should be showing investment to me and my role and should be paying for it. She has a training and development budget which she does not utilise (another thread for another day). She always says to people who want to learn new things to look online for the free resources.... so her training and development budget is just sitting there unused.

I am the only member of staff in the team of 25 that has a role with the optional professional membership, so it's not like she would have to pay out for many memberships.

I am torn, I do see my husbands point of view - it is my boss who wants me to join up for this membership, but ultimately who do you think should pay?

The employer should pay unless you can off-set it against your tax return.

My company pay for my professional membership.

The employer should pay as they would be benefiting from the support amd knowledge sharing etc.

My employer pays for mine.

It varies. As an engineer I used to include claim my professional membership from my employer on expenses. As a teacher it never seemed to be an option to claim professional registration fees. I suppose I could have offset them against tax, but I didn't have any other reason to complete a tax return and it seemed a lot of hassle just to get back 20% of not very much.

ETA: I think you should be able to claim it from your employer, though. Offsetting it against tax is an unsatisfactory alternative, as you only get back the tax on the expense, not the whole thing.

You pay - you are the person who benefits most.

I have to pay for mine, and it infuriates me that the only benefit is my name on a list (lecturer) but I am not allowed to do my job without it.

Its not a should question, it will depend on the employer

Why not ask and see if it's an option

Our employer pays for them

What does membership provide that demonstrates commitment? Extra training? (I pay my own membership because I’ve never worked anywhere that’s offered!)

Teachers don't pay professional registration afaik, but fwiw you don't need to complete a tax return to claim tax relief on them, you just need to tell hmrc, which you can do online.

I agree with DH, the employer should pay.

In my day job I pay for my own professional associations, largely as the main benefits are my own personal networking and growth/brand. But in the charity I volunteer with we give staff an annual personal allowance of £250 towards association fees or courses etc.

Is £200 (or £16 a month) a significant expense vs your salary? Would you normally expect your DH to ok those costs? Would you be signing up if the boss hadn’t suggested it and practically do you have time to get the benefit from it?

I wonder if you are a doctor. If so professional membership for anything is usually paid by the member. I expect you will get absolutely nowhere asking your boss but I would still ask. No reason why we should accept the status quo.
I bet your husband is not a doctor and he is approaching it from a different viewpoint. Has he not already seen endless fees paid for exams, training courses, indemnity, GMC, BMA, Royal College?!
In my GP practice we do a mixture. Ie doctors pay own GMC and RCGP but practice pays indemnity. Nurses pay own NMC but FSRH, for being a coil fitter, membership is paid, because that's a benefit to the practice which the nurse doesn't have to do.

To teach or work in education in Wales, membership of the educational workforce council is mandatory no matter the role.

Teachers in schools in Scotland do I believe, and they did in England until about 10 years ago. FE teachers have to be a member of SET to maintain QTLS, although some colleges have corporate membership which covers all staff.

For office based roles many employers would pay IME, unless perhaps most of the benefit of it was to do with the employee getting jobs elsewhere!

If funds for training and things are often not used and requests usually declined that’s a bad sign about management.

In your situation I would request it, but if useful / necessary would probably pay myself if could afford it.

It’s also not on IMO for your boss to ask you to sign up for it and pay yourself - if it’s mainly useful for the job, the employer should pay.

I pay for mine (£210 chartership renewal annually), my employer used to pay but no longer does.

I need it for my role, so I pay it.

Employer should pay.

I don't know about other areas, but in Wales teachers definitely have to be registered (and pay the relevant fees): Education Workforce Council

Weirdly it now says fees will be taken from your salary by your employer (before tax?), but I'm sure it didn't work that way in the past. I've escaped from teaching now.

Good info about not needing to complete a tax return though. I always just assumed it was an all or nothing situation!

Ok, so maybe worth having a chat with my boss then and see what she says.

The employer should pay especially ask they suggested it.

My employer pays mine automatically every year.

What professional membership do lecturers require? Or is this specific to your subject area?

My employer pays for mine.