I have to get certifications as part of my job and because all of my coworkers and I keep failing these really hard tests, we aren’t allow to study during downtime on the clock. We were told to study on our own time.
Getting certs is part of what is required for me to get bigger raises and get promoted and all that jazz. I don’t want to use my personal time for this. None of the people who are in this predicament do.
I have a meeting in a few days to discuss goals and I need to figure out how to tell my boss that using my own time for work shit is unacceptable.
I really like this job other than this one aspect of it and I don’t want to make anyone mad, but I need to express my boundaries and all that
If you need a cert to keep your current position and it wasn’t required when you started, that’s one thing.
If you need a cert to promote and climb within the company that’s totally different. That’s education and qualifications that you need if you choose to climb the ladder and make more. There isn’t really any reason the company should have to pay you for this time for you to study and obtain those certifications. If you decide you want more money, then you will decide to study outside of work. If you wanted a position that required a bachelor’s degree at your company, would you expect the company to pay for your degree and pay for your time at college?
I definitely expect companies to provide continued education opportunities to employees that they value. There’s a difference between taking a couple of online classes and asking the company to pay for a bachelor’s degree, so of course each company is going to have to figure out what works best for them, but only foolish bosses would throw away perfectly good employees who want to improve.
From what rp has said, my understanding is that their current job is not at risk, so they aren’t getting rid of the current employee, even if it may be more likely the current employee may leave if they aren’t given paid time to train for a higher position.
There’s surely an intersecting line between how replaceable this person’s current job is, the position they would need certified for, and how available potential hires for those positions are, etc. Without knowing more details about the work and positions and area we couldn’t give this even a half way decent guess. There’s an argument to be said for how valuable an employee that isn’t willing to better themselves for a future position that they want unless they’re being paid for all of their time to get that position, though. I’ve gotten a good many certifications and gone to classes on my off days to obtain them and taken state testing on my own time within my own field of employment.