Work and college

bonzai bob

Hello!

I'm hoping to go to college in september part time, but it's very expensive and i don't think i could survive on minimum wage as i have a lot of outgoings. I was going to leave my current job and get something part time but as i said, i don't think i could afford it.

I was thinking of asking my current employer if i could cut down my hours from 40 hours(5 days) to 32hrs(days). This means i could still have a decent paying job and i could do the course i want.

My question is, if they say no, do i have any come back? I mean isn't there some 'law' where you're employer has to be accomodating if it's something to do with education? I'm a permanent employee and by september i will be there a year.

Tom Dunne

I doubt there are any laws that compell an employer to pay for your training, but any forward looking company would encourage employees to better themselves.

Why not do the course at night? It can be a pain, and it does take a lot of dedication, but it may be your only option.

seamus

Any law would probably only apply to mandatory education/training imposed by your employer. You can't just decide to to go back to college, and force your employer to accomodate you.

It certainly can't hurt to have a frank and honest discussion with your employer. You've only been there a while, so they mightn't be overjoyed about it, but as tom dunne says, I can't see any reason why an employer would deny a worker an education.
They may even be willing to negotiate a part-funding of your course. This protects both of you. If you leave the company within X years of doing the course, or while doing the course, you have to pay back the subsidised amount - this gives them a guarantee that you'll stay on, and the fact that they're willing to pay for education gives you good reason to remain with them.

Of course, if it's not relevant then best of luck
You can always get a good paying part-time job if you've a bit of experience under your belt. Twould be ****e hours though.

nesf

When I was in college I was lucky enough to be able to work as a sales rep for the time. I was working in industrial business to business sales and aftersales and had a very nice commission package, so I could get away with doing 5-20 hours a week (depending on what my schedule was like) and putting in more hours over the summer months and my holidays. I was coming out with 35Kish a year while I was in college.

It was very stressful though. I really had no freetime and had the worst of both college and working, the worst of the stress and pressure of both. I also had a very irregular income because I worked on a commission only basis since I could not commit to a regular work week. And as I went further into college I found myself finding less and less time to work in, both from study and from a wish to have a regular college life. Also medical problems became an issue and eventually after 3 years I had to take a year out from both sales and college for medical reasons. I blame the high level of stress and pressure for the problems getting as bad as they did.

I'm considering going back and finishing my degree, but I will be going back and not working at the same time. I've been umemployed while studying part time since last september and to be honest I've gotten used to living on a small sum of money. It's all about discipline really. I live on 12K a year atm, I have around 50K in various investments working away for me, but I don't touch them. I don't need that money now, I will whenever I decide to buy a house.

Edit: I can live on a small sum of money because I have no debts. If you have debts then it mightn't be an option.

I'd go with Seamus and recommend you looking at doing a night course, or maybe taking a look at the Open University and doing a course by correspondence?

WhiteWashMan

bonzai bob wrote:

Hello!

I'm hoping to go to college in september part time, but it's very expensive and i don't think i could survive on minimum wage as i have a lot of outgoings. I was going to leave my current job and get something part time but as i said, i don't think i could afford it.

I was thinking of asking my current employer if i could cut down my hours from 40 hours(5 days) to 32hrs(days). This means i could still have a decent paying job and i could do the course i want.

My question is, if they say no, do i have any come back? I mean isn't there some 'law' where you're employer has to be accomodating if it's something to do with education? I'm a permanent employee and by september i will be there a year.

no.
its entirely at the will of the employee.

they dont have to do anytihng for you other than ensure you are trained to do the role you are contracted to do.

i think the people you should talk to are your HR people.


why are your outgoings so high?