Key Post: Educational leave - is there an entitlement to EL?

right,

i have approached my employers for some time off work..(three months-unpaid) to do some career training. The training would not further me in the position i am in at the moment, but would enable me to apply for another position in the company.

I have been an employee for 5years+ and basically they said no. I do not want to leave the company, as I do want to eventually apply for this position with them.
I have used all my leave this year for the training and will have to use all my leave at the start of next year to finish it off. So, I will not have any proper leave to myself for a rest/holiday for two years...and i don't want to kill myself in the mean time...

Someone told me that there is some entitlement to educational leave if you have been in a company for mor ethan 3 years...but don't know if it's true and haven't been able to find information to back this up
Do i have an entitlement for a stint of unpaid leave?
Or educational leave or bascially anything....I have gone through www.oasis.gov.ie and couldn't find anything, but I'm hoping that I'm looking in the wrong place...

Someone told me that there is some entitlement to educational leave if you have been in a company for mor ethan 3 years

Click to expand...

I've never heard of any such legal entitlement, though individual companies may choose to offer something like to their staff if they wish.

Are you a parent by any chance (parental leave is fairly generous)?

Re: unpaid leave/leave of absence/educational leave

Never heard of that either. Certainly not mentioned here:

www.entemp.ie/employment/rights/

unpaid leave/leave of absence/educational leave

You say the training you are involved in has nothing to do with your present post but will enable you to apply for other work within your present firm.

In that case it is difficult to see why your employer is not actively encouraging you to develop yourself. Are they fully aware of your objective? It sounds as if you yourself are making a substantial financial investment and in addition using your holiday/leisure time in this study. Might it help if we knew what the training actually was?

Even relatively small projects and businesses would encourage an employee to develop skills. Large organisations (government, health authorities, multinationals) have Continuous Professional Development schemes which support individual employees both financially and in paid time off for trainings and courses which will benefit the company.

It doesn't make sense that there is no support from your employer and makes me wonder if they are worth working for?

unpaid leave/leave of absence/educational leave

Marie,

I work for an airline and I want to finish my training to gain my commercial pilot's licence. I am about 2/3 of the way through my training, but need a block of about 6+weeks to finish the practical side of it.

You see, I had an falling out with my manager last year on an unrelated topic. I approached him about my request a month or two ago and he "asked Human Resources" (???) and he said that they wouldn't give it to me. One of the reasons I was given was that they have too many similar requests along these lines...

I know there was another guy doing the same as me and although the official company line is no to these type of requests, his manager helped him out on the QT....
i might approach my department's General Manager as opposed to my manager...

They generally are quite bad giving part-time work or anything like it to new parents/those gaining educational qualifications etc...

I know what ur saying about if it's worth working for them in the long run, but there are distinct advantages in getting a job flying with them as opposed to others...(don't want to say what as I don't want to say what company it is ..)

I just want some time off to further myself and i need a holiday before i crack up....i don't think it's too much to ask
Surely there's something I can do...
And I can't leave as they are really funny aout taking poeple back on who have left in the past...:S

Re: unpaid leave/leave of absence/educational leave

Hi Gimmie,

I dont think there is any provision in lrish law for unpaid leave /leave of absence / educational leave. Some progressive companies do indeed offer employees all of the above and more but they are not obliged to. Normally such leave is at the sole discretion of management.

Sometimes upaid leave or exam leave forms a part of the contract with the employer. (eg part qualified accountants). You could check your contract of employement - it might reference exam leave or educational leave, at least it might clarify the matter for you.

ajapale

unpaid leave/leave of absence/educational leave

Gimmie - Knowing the kind of business and the training you've done 2/3rds of puts a different light on things. Your idea of going to your General Manager with your request sounds promising.

If that doesn't work out would you consider saving hard for 6 months or so, then leave (temporarily!!) to complete your training then applying for a pilot's job when you qualify? In the UK there are a number of government-funded schemes for retraining and career development (equivalent to FAS and Enterprise Ireland but more comprehensive around trainings of your choice) but I don't know if the RoI have equivalents. Perhaps the FAS centres have info? There is also the Career Development Loan scheme from some highstreet banks (I got one from Barclays to retrain as a psychotherapist when Thatcher's policies brought me to ruin as a self-employed sculptor/part-time teacher). As you will be in a high-earning bracket when you qualify as a pilot there would be minimal risk of applying for such a scheme. Your living and training costs could be covered by a combination of these alternative sources of funding. With that assured, and the removal of the pressure of working all hours without support or acknowledgement from your employers you can go get your qualification. Which airline you work for post-qualification seems to me to be another separate issue the pursuit of which, now, is putting undue strain and may mean you lost everything, including your health! Let's know how you get on with the General Manager!