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

[PersephoneSmith]

Please can you help me decide if I should just suck it up and attend or make a big deal about how I shouldn't have to do it?

Course is in person, about 3 hours in a classroom, in another city, so will mean expensive peak time train journey as well.

I wrote the course material and used to deliver the course for the company, before being promoted last year. I trained the person who now delivers the course.

My boss says I have to attend because 'it is mandatory'

AIBU?

Depending on the purpose of the mandated training it's not about knowing the material, it's about evidencing you have taken the training.

Bizarrely my dh and I had a conversation about something similar the other day. He said if it's company policy for someone to have certain training, anyone who doesn't do it means the company don't comply with their ISOs (or something like that) so it can make their audits look bad/fail. If the company state it's a mandatory part of their policy, the auditors expect it to be done.

ETA this might not be entirely 100% accurate, I was only half listening. But there's good reason why it must be done, although I understand why it must be very annoying for you.

Of course you're not being unreasonable. It's a massive waste of time and money. But sometimes you have to pick your battles. Can you go early so it's less busy or book 1st class so it's less stressful? I go to tick box training all the time. Perhaps get yourself a foodie treat and put the calm app on your headphones.

You should go. So what if you wrote it, they need to tick some boxes, they're paying for your time, it's only 3 hours, suck it up buttercup. That's the nature of a job, sometimes we don't want to do stuff and yet we have to.

we all have to do things at work that we don't like. We are adults and suck it up, right?

You are building this thing in your head to something overblown, can that be true?

Exactly!!!

I’m assuming you told your boss that you wrote the course contents? If so, he’s being silly to insist on attendance.

I know what you mean about train travel, it makes me anxious, although actually doing it is ok, did the Tube the other day, I ended up just zoning out and asking a helpful worker if I was in the right station/on the right line.

I would go, but spend the time there drafting an email explaining why it is a waste of your time, company time and company money, and pointing out that if it's a company compliance issue, then the policies ( or whatever the documents that are state that attendance is mandatory) need to be amended. Maybe suggest an amendment to be helpful. Copy in CEO .

I find your reasons for not attending, getting a train stressful, a little silly and immature.

Its a train!

I have to get my carer to come an hour early to get me up and showered, then book passenger assistance to get on and off the train in my wheelchair. It’s fine sometimes but if the train is full or people have put luggage or bikes in the wheelchair spaces it can be extremely stressful.

Last year I had to take a train from Reading to Birmingham and it was so crowded about 15 people had to actually be told to get off the train so I could get on and into my space. Many of them were furious. So yes, stressful and unpleasant.

Thank you everyone, I will try to suck it up as suggested, try to make the best of it.

I'd just suck it up. What difference does it make to you? It's a day out of the office and you can sit on the train and work if you need to, otherwise you can have a peaceful few hours reading or whatever.

I find your rudeness & ignorance silly & immmature. Have a wee think before posting such twatty comments.

In fairness op, I think if you had explained about being a wheelchair user and how much effort travelling by train required, then you would have gotten different answers.

Would your employer pay for a taxi for you to get there? Or allow you to attend virtually?

Given the stress & difficulty you have around travelling & getting your carer in early I'd kuck back harder & ask why you need to attend a course YOU write & presented.

IF it turns out to be essential, can you ask for a reasonable adjustment? Online if they fund a 1:1 assistant for the day.

i think fewer people would have said just do it, if you had you made your difficulties known in your OP.

It's not that simple fir everyone 🙄

read her other posts.

You should have led with the drip feed!

I agree with this. When asking my line manager about relevant cpd for me this year, he offered a course that I delivered three weeks earlier. 🙄

Does this training require any practical assessments in order for you to be signed off?

If not, or you would be unable to do them anyway due to disability, can they not provide the training in a different format and allow you to do it in office or at home? That seems like a fair reasonable adjustment to me. It would be unreasonable for your boss to make you travel without a proper risk assessment.

Not only do you sometimes have to call in advance to let them know a wheelchair will be travelling, but they don't always update when station lifts aren't working, and when there are delays and platform changes this adds additional barriers to travelling. It is coming up to Christmas and commutes will be packed not only with regular commuters but christmas shoppers, people doing festive events and markets, which means less space and more potential for friction or aggression from the public.

Then you have your carer, who if on a contract may not come earlier than agreed.

The commute to a different city for a one off is different to commuting to work, which follows a regular schedule and is meticulously planned. There are too many unknown variables with a random trip elsewhere.

The massive drip feed didn't help, did it. That information hadn't been posted when I was typing.

God, I’d love to be paid to do something than the actual job for a few hours 😂 though I understand it’s not the same for you for the reasons you’ve listed.

Please tell me the course is about disability and inclusion or something.

This. And all the posters agreeing.
FFS.
Just set up your own course and print if the certificate.

It’s not a drip feed, I wanted you all to give me your real opinions based on me getting the train like anyone else.
Passenger assistance is a very good service, I get the train into London a couple of times a month (at the weekend for fun) with no issues. It’s the other passengers on busy commuter services that cause the stress.
Interesting comments about reasonable adjustments, and asking them to provide the training in other formats.
I don’t need the training because I am an expert in the subject at hand. I literally wrote the book on how to do it!

It is a drip feed, the information about needing passenger assistance and to have your carer come in earlier does change things