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?

It might be a pain to travel early but lots of people have to do this.
And it's mandatory for the company

How about writing and delivering it though?

If they can evidence you attended the course that’s all that’s needed. The regulators don’t care who wrote the content 😀

If it’s mandatory for the company then regardless of whether you wrote / delivered it you need to do it / suck it up. It will be in your contract that you have to do training as mandated by the company. Not sure this is a hill you really want to die on if the alternative is potential disciplinary or as a minimum a dispute with your boss. Wouldn’t used the cost of the train ticket as an argument , companies waste far more on other stuff.

If it is mandatory for everyone in the company then does the person running the course have to attend it?

If the box for the person running the course can be ticked because they are running it, then why can’t it be ticked for the person who wrote the course?

This is truly absurd. It reminds me a bit of the laws whereby Australians wanting to come to live in the UK have to do exams to prove that they've managed to achieve a basic fluency in English - except it's even more stupid as at least those modern-day individuals didn't actually invent the English language themselves!

At the very least, I woukd be constantly referring to it by my own name every single time - not just 'the training course' but 'the Persephone Smith training course'.

I just can't get my head around how utterly ludicrous, bloody-minded and obsessed with pointless box-ticking some people are. Words fail me.

It's a bit like you working in a nursery, being officially added to the group star chart and made to prove that you can sing the Alphabet Song or count to 5 or promise not to take any sweeties without asking mummy or daddy first ... not just to humour the little ones but in front of the management, when the tiny kids are not actually present.

Why is it telling lies? When people say they can't do something, it doesn't strictly mean that it's 100% impossible; it often clearly means that it is a thoroughly unreasonable request and not something that you could be expected to do.

If your boss asked you to work for no pay for a week, it wouldn't be categorically impossible; but it would be highly impractical, extremely undesirable and would cause you a lot of knock-on issues. If you said "No, I can't do that" it would be crystal clear what you meant.

A very boring update, sorry.
Big boss asked me if I am going to the department Christmas lunch on the 12th December, I said no because I have to go to Oxford to do the training in question. He asked why on earth I am expected to go on the training course I wrote and has now told my manager not to be silly, of course there's no need for me to do it.

Great update, OP - yes, 'boring' but nevertheless a great result.

Interesting that he instantly knew you'd written it without you even having to tell him - so clearly not an ambiguous situation.

I think it's even nastier that your immediate boss had chosen to send you on a pointless course when they surely knew that doing so would also mean you would also miss the the works Christmas lunch. So glad the big boss seems to have his head screwed on OK.

Nice work. Sense applied at last.

Then she attended when she delivered it

At last!

I hope your manager goes for a bit of re-training too!

That's a great update, common sense prevails!

It does make me question why your manager was so intent on you attending?

Because you need an annual certification and she hasn't done it this year. Clearly not in this OP's case, but in general this is how it works with when training is linked to license to operate.

Bloody hell they organised the Christmas lunch when there was a training some of you have to do (even if you now don't)?

That's awful of them

Be prepared for an (unjustified) backlash from your boss.

In my job, we get credit as having had a training if we presented it, which is common sense. That would make double common sense if OP wrote the training.

Great update! Thank goodness for that, and well done for speaking up when the chance arose.

I'm still baffled as to why he wanted you to go on it in the first place though?

Is he dense? Or does he not understand what's on the course. Or does he even get some perverse kick out of wasting your time?

How does he expect you to have any respect for his decisions?!

Admittedly haven’t read the whole thread. You absolutely should not need to do this - a simple 20 question check would ascertain your expertise (and even that isn’t necessary). I totally disagree with sucking it up - this is one of those times when it is totally reasonable to make an exception, which can be justified to anyone who asks for similar in the future. Your organisation needs to use its common sense and do all that they can to support and keep great employees (which I’m assuming you are OP). And all of that is before you consider your disability.

You arent paying the costs. Its your job. They pay for your time and if they want to waste it sending you on this course just go. Its not your time. Youve raised reasonable reasons for not attending they've said it mandatory so go