Continuing professional development (CPD) and training opportunities are of significant benefit to employees, ensuring that their knowledge and skills remain up to date and allowing them to grow as practitioners.

From an employer’s perspective, this can also add value to their business. However, concerns may arise about when an employer is or is not obligated to pay for training and how to handle time off when staff are attending professional development activities.

Benefits

A strong workplace culture focused on professional development advantages both employers and employees.

For employers, it:
•    helps to retain high-quality staff
•    provides an attractive benefit for prospective employees
•    contributes to the collective knowledge pool of the practice
•    encourages high performance
•    strengthens business credibility.

Benefits for employees include:
•    the development of professional skills
•    boosted confidence in their own ability
•    increased credibility and professional reputation
•    increased earning potential
•    networking opportunities.

Who pays for the professional development?

Employer obligations regarding paying for CPD depend on the nature of the training and on whether the employer has directed the employee to undertake this training or if it is on the employee’s own initiative.

When an employer has directed an employee to undertake certain training or professional development activities, the cost of this training should be paid by the employer.

This is because the employee is primarily there as part of their employment relationship. An employer is also obligated to cover reasonable costs of travel and accommodation, including if it is overnight and/or interstate.

Time spent doing professional development should be considered time worked. If an employee undergoes training during their ordinary hours, it should be paid at their usual rate. If it is outside of or in excess of their usual working hours, they may be entitled to penalty rates.

When an employee is the one to request time away from work to undergo CPD activities, there is no obligation for an employer to contribute to paying the cost, particularly if the activity will provide no material benefit to the business.

In this situation, an employee can request annual leave for any time away from work. If necessary, the employee and employer may also come to an arrangement about payment for the costs of the activity as well as for possible travel or accommodation.

However, there is a potential grey area if an employer suggests alternative CPD activities for the employee to complete, particularly if the business will benefit from these instead.

In this case there is an argument that the employee is undertaking the CPD at the employer’s behest, which functions as a direction to attend the CPD in the capacity of an employee, and that the employer should therefore cover relevant costs.

The importance of a policy

It is best practice for employers to have a workplace policy outlining their approach to CPD, particularly if they choose to provide a fund (typically a yearly amount) for employees to use for agreed professional development activities.

This allows employees to have a clear understanding of exactly what is provided for. It also allows an employer to outline fair and reasonable principles governing when and how they might agree to contribute to an employee’s CPD, minimising or eliminating disgruntlement among staff.

Employers may wish to consider providing paid time off for employees to attend CPD—essentially, this could function as ‘study leave’, where employees have a yearly amount of additional leave that is dedicated solely to CPD.

Clawback clauses

Some employment contracts stipulate that when an employer has funded CPD activities, the employee must remain with the business for a certain length of time or be required to pay back all or a proportion of the cost of this professional development.

It is important to be aware that these clauses are not automatically enforceable and must be enforced in a court setting. Where an employer seeks to recoup these monies from a departing employee, we would recommend seeking independent legal advice.

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