First Aid Course!

Sarah.Roo

i am working in a creche at the moment.. my employer wants us to do a first aid course. on two saturdays from 9-5 and pay for it ourselves!
is this allowed? in my last job we were sent for our first aid course during paid working hours and the course was fully paid for. is there a law that the company must pay?

Fiskar

Sarah.Roo wrote: »

i am working in a creche at the moment.. my employer wants us to do a first aid course. on two saturdays from 9-5 and pay for it ourselves!
is this allowed? in my last job we were sent for our first aid course during paid working hours and the course was fully paid for. is there a law that the company must pay?

sounds like your employer is using you for their own gain.
It is their responsibility to provide first aid provision in the workplace and to pay for it.

have a look a HSA link http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Topics/First_Aid/
unfortunateley it does not indicate cost however

connundrum

If it was a requirement for your position which was overlooked at the time you were hired, I'd suggest that it would be at your cost.

In the security industry (my background), we have all of our guys pay for their own security courses as it is required for the job.

However, additional courses which we think would be of benifit to them i.e. 1st Aid courses, Safe Pass courses etc are not a requirement, and therefore we (the employer) pay for the employee's time and cost of course.

Mrs OBumble

Fiskar wrote: »

It is their responsibility to provide first aid provision in the workplace and to pay for it.

However if you don't have the cert already (which TBH should have been a basic requirement before you got the job) then your employer could well say that you're not meeting the requirements of the job, fire you, and hire someone who has it.

The grey area comes in when you're needing a refresher course: technically an employer doesn't have to pay for YOU to do it, they just need to have employees who have it. But many employers do pay, 'cos it's cheaper to do that than to recruit new staff.

In general, employers can, and most do, make it your responsibility to keep your paperwork (safe-pass, first-aid course, nurses-registration, teacher-registration, accountant's-certificate, etc ... whatever is needed) up-to-date.

brightspark

The grey area comes in when you're needing a refresher course: technically an employer doesn't have to pay for YOU to do it, they just need to have employees who have it. But many employers do pay, 'cos it's cheaper to do that than to recruit new staff.

Sorry JustMary you're incorrect there is no grey area.

Sarah,

The relevant Law is the 2005 Act.

From the SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELFARE AT WORK ACT 2005

http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Legislation/Acts/Safety_Health_and_Welfare_at_Work/SI_No_10_of_2005.pdf



Section 10.

"(4) Where, in respect of any particular work, competency
requirements are prescribed, the employer shall provide for the
release of employees, during working hours, where appropriate,
and without loss of remuneration, for the purpose of attending
training in matters relating to safety, health and welfare at work as
regards the particular work."


(That doesn't mean that employers don't abuse the system and insist on potential employees possessing safe pass certs before hiring them, instead of training them themselves as was the original intention)

Sarah.Roo

Section 10.

"(4) Where, in respect of any particular work, competency
requirements are prescribed, the employer shall provide for the
release of employees, during working hours, where appropriate,
and without loss of remuneration, for the purpose of attending
training in matters relating to safety, health and welfare at work as
regards the particular work."


(That doesn't mean that employers don't abuse the system and insist on potential employees possessing safe pass certs before hiring them, instead of training them themselves as was the original intention)[/QUOTE]



oh wow... this has been so helpful..
so basicily its the law to send me during working hours and with pay?
if i tell my employer im not available to do it i wont be fired? awh thank you so much for all your help everyone

StillWaters

Not necessarily. The law on First Aid training in creches is

"A person trained in first aid for children should be on the premises at all times.
Additional trained persons will be required, depending on the extent of the
services.
A person with training in first aid for children should accompany the children
on outings."

So it really depends on how large the creche is and how many staff are already First Aiders. If there are already sufficient staff members to meet the above criteria, it is then not a requirement of the job, and I cannot see how the creche can make you attend training.