Page 63 - Learning-while-working-Success-stories-on-workplace-learning-in-Europe

Social dialogue for adult learning 57

Collective bargaining on continuing training has significantly increased in the UK, as a result
of the government strategy to encourage lifelong learning. Continuing training is a topic for
employee consultation. Considerable financial support has been given to the expansion of trade
union ‘learning representatives’, while sectoral skills councils have provided wide support to
companies investing in continuing training. The social partners have been actively involved in
the implementation of the UK agenda for skill development (Eurofound and Cedefop, 2009, p.
14). Sector skills agreements provide the basis for developing qualification strategies to secure
the range and level of skills needed and are involved in identifying the skills required for future
industrial growth, in relation to new working practices, processes and technologies. For example,
they provide advice on training-related activities to individual enterprises to increase commitment
to training and they participate in industry skill forecasting that provides evidence for identifying
training needs for subsequent planning of training actions. Sector skills councils are involved
in developing occupational standards for each economic sector and the corresponding training
services (Cedefop, 2008f, p. 146-149; Eurofound and Cedefop, 2009, p. 10).
In Denmark, sectoral bargaining sets the framework for training policies in companies.
The social partners generally devolve the design of interventions to joint ‘competence
development’ or ‘vocational training’ committees at sectoral and company level, in both
public and private sectors. For instance, the sectoral agreement for industry recommends a
‘systematic education and training plan for the company’s employees’ and devolves to the
‘education committee’ the decision about the type of continuing training needed at company
level (Eurofound and Cedefop, 2009, p. 15).
The cornerstone of collective bargaining on continuing training in Belgium is the interprofessional
agreement that social partners sign every two years, which regulates key conditions for continuing
training, such as paid educational leave, and defines a set of objectives in relation to employers’
contributions to sectoral bilateral funds, workforce participation in training programmes and
the target groups who should deserve special attention, such as older workers. However,
collective agreement provisions on vocational training are formulated in terms of objectives
and not obligations or mandatory requirements. Through sectoral bargaining, these issues are
further developed according to sector specificities. Within companies, the employer and worker
representatives negotiate an annual training plan (Eurofound and Cedefop, 2009, p. 15).

Although there is little national evidence of the impact of social dialogue
on training participation, employees in unionised workforces seem to benefit
more from training activities. The proportion of agreements on continuing
training increases with the size of the company. According to the last available
European survey on continuing vocational training (CVTS 3), participation in
training sponsored by employers is significantly higher in companies with a
joint agreement on continuing training, and training hours are more intensive
(Cedefop, 2010b, p. 56-58). Workers’ representatives, if at all involved in
training issues, tend to take part in the objective setting, while the training
budget and the selection of training providers usually rests elsewhere.