Posted: Tuesday, 2 May 2006

This paper will examine the education and training clauses found in collective agreements and Canada’s federal and provincial legislation. Training and educational leaves refer to the time given to employees to temporarily pursue both learning related to the workplace and learning for general interest. Often, the courses take the form of formal education programs, but in some instances they are done on the job or in more informal settings within the workplace. More importantly, training and education leaves guarantee workers protected leave, which means workers are given the opportunity to resume employment at the same salary, in the same role and with the same company when their leave is completed. Currently, there is no legislation in place that allows workers to take a protected leave of absence from their jobs in order to pursue educational or training courses. Only training and educational leave clauses within collective agreements provide workers with the opportunity to pursue education leave outside of the workplace during scheduled work hours. Although it is still possible for workers to upgrade their skills outside of the workplace on their own time, it is often difficult for workers to find extra time and money to pursue educational opportunities.

Therefore, for the purposes of this paper, educational and training opportunities will refer only to the chances workers are given to participate in training and education during normally scheduled work times.

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