As a truck driver we have to do mandatory training to be able to work as a driver. 5×7 hour sessions over 5 years to get a new card.
It's the driver's responsibility but majority of employers will provide training, some you have to do it unpaid but they pay for the training. If that seems mean the alternative is paying for it yourself and still doing it in your own time .
My lot provide the training and pay you to attend. We run a delivery rota where the same runs go out every day. If you work a rest day that's overtime at 1.5x the standard rate. Training on rest days is only paid at normal time, which is fair enough in my book. They're providing a benefit and want it to be cost effective.
Asked the trainer when some more will be planned as the recent ones haven't been on my rest day, he said the department head had stopped it being done on rest days to 'save money' so it's now being done when we are on shift.
Agency drivers get pay parity so when the agency margin is included they are more expensive than us, paid hourly so take their time/drag it out, and as we do the same small number of runs on a rota AND are salaried so on job and finish we do the run at least 2 hours quicker than they do.
So to save the cost of paying 12 to 18 drivers 8 hours at normal time they are sitting us in a classroom for 8 hours instead of doing our 10-12 hour runs, and either paying 10-12 hours at x1.5 for overtime or paying about x1.25 for 12-14 hours for agency drivers. Assuming the planning manager can find these extra drivers and doesn't cancel the training.
I feel someone hasn't thought this through.