Time to train rejection letter

If, having held a meeting with an employee under the statutory time to train procedure, you take the decision to reject their application, you need to notify them of this in writing within 14 days, setting out the business grounds on which the application is declined and why those grounds apply in the circumstances.

Details of rejection

If the employee’s request for time to train is refused, you must inform the employee of your decision in writing, setting out:

•         on which business ground(s) the request is being turned down

•         a sufficient explanation as to why the business ground(s) applies in the circumstances

•         the appeal procedure

•         the date of your decision notice.

Grounds for refusal

You are entitled to refuse an application provided the reason for refusal falls under one of the nine permissible statutory grounds. These are:

1. The proposed study or training would not improve the employee’s effectiveness in your business or the performance of your business.
2. The burden of additional costs.
3. Detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand.
4. Inability to re-organise work among existing staff.
5. Inability to recruit additional staff.
6. Detrimental impact on quality.
7. Detrimental impact on performance.
8. Insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work.
9. Planned structural changes.

You can also specify more than one ground in your rejection letter.

You then need to go on to provide a sufficient written explanation to the employee of why the particular ground(s) applies in the circumstances - a couple of paragraphs should suffice to explain your business decision.