Guide

Support representatives of employee safety: training, paid time off and facilities

A task guide on the employer's regulation 6 and regulation 8 duties to representatives of employee safety (RoES) elected under HSCER 1996: providing reasonable training at the employer's cost, paid time off during working hours to perform their functions and undergo training, and the facilities and assistance needed to do the job. Covers the complaint route to the employment tribunal for unpaid time off.

UK-wide

Once representatives of employee safety (RoES) have been elected under regulation 4 of the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 (HSCER 1996), the employer carries three operational duties towards them under regulations 6 and 8: training, paid time off, and facilities and assistance. These duties parallel the equivalent obligations to union-appointed safety representatives under SRSCR 1977. Without them in place a RoES cannot perform the statutory functions in regulation 5 and the consultation duty in regulation 3 will not work as designed.

  1. 1. Identify training needs and arrange the course

    Each RoES must be provided with reasonable training in the aspects of their functions that are reasonable in the circumstances. Use the IOSH Safety Representative course, a TUC equivalent, or an in-house course pitched at broadly the same level. Refresh training when the role, workplace risks, or relevant law changes. Plan an initial course as soon as practicable after election.

  2. 2. Pay all training costs

    You must meet the cost of the training, including course fees, travel and subsistence. Do not deduct these costs from the RoES's pay. Where training is held off-site, treat travel time as working time for the purposes of regulation 6.

  3. 3. Allow paid time off during working hours

    Give each RoES the time off with pay during working hours that is necessary to perform their functions and undergo training. Pay is calculated by reference to the employee's normal working hours and average hourly earnings under Schedule 1 to the Regulations. "Necessary" is judged on the role and the workplace; agree expected monthly hours up front to avoid disputes.

  4. 4. Provide facilities and assistance

    Make available the facilities and assistance the RoES reasonably needs: somewhere private to meet employees, a noticeboard, access to relevant documentation, and cover for their work while they are carrying out functions. The standard is "reasonably required" measured against the size of the constituency and the risks in the workplace.

  5. 5. Brief line managers

    Most disputes over time off come from line managers who do not know the RoES role exists or who treat requests as discretionary. Tell line managers who the RoES are, what time off is for, and that requests should be accommodated unless there is a genuine and exceptional operational reason to refuse.

  6. 6. Handle disputes early

    If a RoES (or election candidate) disputes a refusal to allow paid time off, or non-payment for time taken, deal with it through your normal grievance route promptly. Unresolved cases can be taken to an employment tribunal under regulation 8 and Schedule 1 within three months of the incident.

Agreeing an expected monthly time-off allowance with each RoES at the start of their term — with a clear route to request more if circumstances change — heads off most disputes. The agreement does not cap the statutory entitlement, but it gives line managers a workable baseline.

Penalties and tribunal remedy

Penalty:
<p>Failure to provide training, paid time off or facilities
under regulations 6 and 8 of HSCER 1996 is a criminal
offence under section 33 of the Health and Safety at Work
etc. Act 1974, with penalties set out in Schedule 3A.
Maximum penalty on conviction is an unlimited fine, and
HSE or the local authority can serve an improvement notice.
In addition, a RoES or election candidate has a separate
civil remedy: a complaint to an employment tribunal under
regulation 8 and Schedule 1 for failure to permit paid
time off or for non-payment.</p>

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