Not being able to participate in training due to part time hours.

[SaschaHendrick]

My employer is really trying to up their game with regards to training and is offering a lot of free training courses for staff. Its has been about a year since they really started focusing on training and I have not been able to sign up for any of the courses that have interested me as I work part time and the course timetables are not compatible with my working hours. Trainings are either taking place from 9-5 or the half day traininf are all in the afternoon but as I finish at 2pm I cant attend any. I have also checked out the timetables for some courses that dont interest me but its the same story.

How do I go about raising this with HR? Is it discrimmination as mothers are usually the ones to work reduced hours and therefore the women are not being offered the same opportunities as the men? If it matters the company I work for is around 85% female so I imagine there are a lot of staff who are effected by this. Or is this something that I just have to suck up and accept as one of the disadvantages of part time hours?

Have you spoken to your manager? They should be raising that some part time workers are missing out.

You could also raise with the trade union if your workplace recognises one.

Otherwise, find out who in hr is responsible for learning and development and ask for a short meeting to discuss your experience. Approach it without blame, highlight the courses you would have attended if they were delivered more flexibly, ie in the mornings.

Have you not mentioned it in the last year? I'm assuming there's no option to swap your hours for the day when the training is on?

I used to work shifts and if training fell outside of our hours we were expected to go in as overtime. (Which we were paid for.)
It was a pain in the arse tbh.

Can you not time shift to attend those courses as a one off? When I worked part time I time shifted when opportunities for specific training came up. It is often not feasible for these opportunities to be rearranged for a minority of part time workers so time shifting makes it fair. For example some courses have to run for a full day due to course content and trainer availability.

Training courses are usually outsourced and therefore subject to that company's schedule.

In most companies you would be expected to attend the full day and have toil or overtime pay.

The problem is that I cant change my working hours as there is no one else who can pick up my son.
If it werent for my son I wouldnt mind staying late for training every now and again but the whole reason I work part time is because I have no after school care and so staying outside of my hours is absolutely not an option.

What did your line manager say when you raised it with them?

Unfortunately your childcare arrangements are not your employer's concern. I'm not saying I agree with it, it's just the way it is. Part-timers are expected to be more flexible.

I don’t think you can do much? At my company, even part time staff have to undertake training on a full time basis and then switch to part time hours once their training has completed.

I’d be trying to attend them as a one off and hopefully working less hours another time to balance out- I find it really hard to believe that there are no other options at all. Could you ask one of the other parents as a one off? No paid wraparound options at all?

Yes I think you could try and make it work

even if you ask your employer to work from home on training days if it means you miss less of the session for the school run. You could see if they have any recorded sessions for the training so you can catch up later. You could send feedback asking that they offer a morning session instead of just afternoons

can none of this training be completed in your own time? Do you have the attend the entire 9-5 session?

It is definitely worth raising with your line manager and the person that schedules training. Perhaps chat to other part timers before hand so that you can find out what would suit others to make your case stronger.

I would also ask if any of the training sessions are being/can be recorded for you to participate in on one of your working days.

Both of the above have been my personal experience as training being made accessible to part timers.

I have worked part time for the past decade and have always shifted my hours as a one-off for training courses. Part time working is a two way street and you do need to be a bit flexible at times. You really need to work on having ad hoc childcare options though. I cultivated relationships with other mums for this and it's always worked well. We help each other out as and when. You need that.