In law, the only training that all employers are obliged to provide is health and safety training (apart from public sector employers who have to meet the requirements of the race equality duty, which includes training staff on duties to promote racial equality). But many employers recognise the value of training and developing their staff, and therefore make training available. Sometimes, this is job-specific training; in other cases, it might be to gain an external qualification.
If your employer does offer workplace training, they must offer it equally and fairly. They cannot discriminate in who they offer training to on the grounds of age, religion or belief, gender, race, sexual orientation or because someone has a disability.
Where there are genuine requirements to undertake certain types of training – such as having a driving licence, undergoing a Criminal Records Bureau check or job specific requirements – the employer must make these clear. There are also some circumstances where age can be a reason for not offering training: if, for example, the training period is a long one and the person would be eligible to retire before they have completed it.
Find out more about workplace training.
Example
An employer introduces a new management training programme, and invites managers to attend one of the training days. However, one manager, in his 50s, is not invited. When this manager asks the employer why not, the employer says that this manager is too old to change his management style. The employer is discriminating against the manager on the grounds of his age.