Employer vs Employee Responsibilities for Mandatory Training

Who is responsible for mandatory training? Is it the employer, the employee, or both? If mandatory training is required for a role, who must arrange it, pay for it, complete it, record it and follow up when it is overdue? These questions matter because unclear responsibility can lead to weak compliance, employment disputes, unsafe practice, poor records and avoidable regulatory risk.

In most organisations, the employer owns the training system, while the employee owns their participation within it. Employers must identify the required training, provide reasonable access, monitor completion, keep records, and ensure the training supports safe practice. Employees must complete required training, engage with it properly, apply it at work, and raise concerns when they need support, clarification, or adjustments.

In this blog, Dr Richard Dune explains employer and employee responsibilities for mandatory training, including legal and contractual considerations, working time and pay issues, refresher training, reasonable adjustments, agency and temporary staff, record keeping and common mistakes. The focus is practical: helping organisations build a fair, defensible and well-evidenced mandatory training system that supports compliance, workforce assurance and safer practice.

What are the employer and employee responsibilities for mandatory training?

The short answer is that the employer controls the system, and the employee participates in the required mandatory training courses.

Employers are responsible for deciding what training is mandatory, ensuring it is appropriate to the role and risks, arranging access to it, communicating expectations clearly, keeping records, following up on non-compliance, and linking training to supervision, appraisal, and wider workforce governance. Employees are responsible for attending or completing the required training, engaging with it properly, applying what they learn in practice, and informing their employer if they need support, adjustments, or clarification.

This distinction matters because mandatory training is not simply an administrative requirement. It sits at the intersection of health and safety, employment relations, operational risk and service quality. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states that employers must ensure workers receive adequate health and safety training when they start work and whenever they are exposed to new or increased risks. It also says everyone who works for you needs to know how to work safely and without risk to health, including people changing jobs or taking on extra responsibilities.

If you need a broader explanation of definitions, see our guide to statutory and mandatory training differences.

Why does this matter in practice?

It matters because unclear responsibilities create real-world problems. Employers may assume staff should "just know" they need mandatory training, while employees may assume the organisation will always schedule, pay for and remind them about everything. The result is often overdue training, weak records, disagreements over pay or time, poor induction, inconsistent competence and avoidable complaints.

In regulated settings, the risks are higher. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) guidance on Regulation 18 states that staff should receive regular appraisals, that training and learning needs should be identified and supported, and that completion of required training should be monitored, with prompt action taken where requirements are not met.

This is why responsibilities need to be stated clearly in contracts, training policies, induction processes, local procedures, and management practices, rather than left to assumptions.

What are employers responsible for?

Responsibility lies with the organisation to build and maintain a structured, risk-based training system, ensuring that requirements are clearly defined, accessible, properly resourced, and consistently monitored to support compliance, workforce competence, and safe practice.

Identifying what training is required

The employer is responsible for deciding what training is mandatory. That decision should not be arbitrary. It should be based on legal duties, regulator expectations, service risks, insurer standards, local policy, incidents, job roles and the needs of the people being supported.

This means employers should conduct a training needs analysis rather than simply copying a generic list. If the organisation uses equipment, manages hazardous substances, provides regulated care or has high-risk activities, training should reflect that. HSE guidance is clear that workers must be adequately trained in health and safety and, where work equipment is involved, trained in its use, supervision or management.

For a more sector-specific explanation, see our guide to mandatory training in health and social care.

Providing access to the training

Once the employer has identified what is required, it must make the training available in a practical and timely way. That includes induction training for new starters, refresher arrangements, reasonable scheduling, appropriate delivery methods and access to the right systems or learning materials.

HSE states that training should be provided when employees start work and when changes create new or increased risks. That means employers cannot simply say training is mandatory and then fail to provide a workable route to complete it.

Paying for mandatory training where required

One of the most common areas of confusion is about payment for mandatory training. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) states that "mandatory training" is any training your employer says you need to do, and whether you get paid can depend on your contract. It also says that if someone started work on or after 6 April 2020, any mandatory training must be set out in the written statement of employment particulars, including any mandatory training the employer does not pay for.

In practice, employers should be very cautious here. Mandatory training required by the employer can also count as working time for minimum wage purposes. HMRC guidance states that where a worker is receiving training required by the employer, that time is treated as working time. Acas also notes that deductions for mandatory training must not take final pay below the National Minimum Wage (NMW).

The defensible position for most employers is to pay for genuinely mandatory training and to ensure that the time needed to complete it is properly accounted for.

Recording completion and following up on gaps

The employer is responsible for keeping accurate records of what has been assigned, completed, refreshed, assessed and followed up. In regulated services, this is part of workforce assurance. It is not enough to tell staff that training is mandatory if no one checks completion or takes action when requirements are not met.

CQC's Regulation 18 guidance explicitly states that completion of required training should be monitored and that action should be taken promptly when requirements are not being met.

This is where systems matter. A well-run process links training records to induction, supervision, appraisal and local management oversight. For organisations reviewing how to manage this more effectively, ComplyPlus™ LMS and the wider training management system pathway can support a more structured approach.

Making reasonable adjustments and ensuring fairness

Employers must also make sure training is accessible and fair. Under the Equality Act 2010, employers must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that workers with disabilities or health conditions are not placed at a substantial disadvantage. UK government guidance states that this duty applies to all workers, including trainees, apprentices and contract workers.

In practice, this may affect the time, format, location, pace or method of training delivery. It may also affect how competence is assessed or refreshed. Employers should not treat equality and accessibility as an afterthought.

What are employees responsible for?

Responsibility at the individual level focuses on active participation. Employees are expected to complete required mandatory training, engage with it meaningfully, and apply it in practice, while communicating any barriers or support needs to ensure safe, compliant, and effective performance in their role.

Completing required training

Employees are responsible for completing the mandatory training assigned to them. If a course is part of their role requirements or local policy, they are expected to attend, participate and complete it within the required timeframe.

This is not just about attendance. Employees are expected to engage with the content properly and understand how it applies to their work. In many roles, especially higher-risk or regulated ones, training is part of an employee's normal obligations under their contract and workplace policies.

Applying the learning in practice

Completion alone is not enough. Employees are responsible for applying what they have learned in the workplace, following the policies and procedures they have been trained on, and working in line with safe systems of work.

That means the employee cannot argue that training was irrelevant if it clearly applied to their role and was necessary for safe or compliant practice. Where competence-sensitive tasks are involved, employees may also need to participate in supervised practice, local sign-off or practical reassessment.

Raising concerns, barriers or support needs

Employees also have a responsibility to tell their employer if they cannot complete the training for a genuine reason, do not understand what is expected, need additional support, or require an adjustment. That includes issues such as lack of access, literacy or language barriers, disability-related needs, clashing shifts, technical problems or unclear instructions.

This is important because employers are responsible for the system, but employees must still engage with it honestly. Silent non-compliance is not a defensible position.

Following contractual requirements

For many workers, mandatory training is part of the written terms of employment or local policy framework. Acas guidance states that workers and employees starting work must receive a written statement of employment particulars. Mandatory training expectations should be included where relevant, including training that the employer does not pay for.

Employees should therefore read their contract, written statement and local policies carefully, rather than assuming training obligations will always be explained verbally.

Who is responsible for time off and training time?

This is one of the most misunderstood areas. There are two separate issues: the time required to complete mandatory training for the role, and the statutory right to request time off for study or training.

The right to request time to train applies only in certain circumstances. Acas states that to make such a request, the person must be an employee, must have worked for the employer for at least 26 weeks, the training must help them do their job better, and at least 250 people must work in the organisation. Time off is usually unpaid unless the employer agrees to pay it.

That right is not the same as an employer's obligation to ensure employees complete required mandatory training. If the employer says a course is necessary for the role, the employer should plan for it and manage it as part of working arrangements, rather than treating it as a personal study request.

What about agency workers, bank staff and temporary staff?

The responsibility becomes more complicated with agency workers, bank staff, locums and temporary staff, but it does not disappear. Someone still needs to ensure that the worker is safe, trained and competent for the work they are being asked to do.

The exact split may depend on the contractual arrangement between the worker, the agency and the hiring organisation. However, from a risk and governance perspective, the hiring organisation should not assume someone else has done everything correctly without checking. HSE's overview makes it clear that everyone who works for you needs clear instructions, information, adequate training, and supervision, including contractors and self-employed people.

This is one reason why the responsibilities page should sit separately from the broader definitions page. It needs to focus on accountability in practice, including shared or overlapping responsibility.

Common mistakes employers and employees should avoid

Even when responsibilities are clearly defined, common misunderstandings and poor practices can undermine training effectiveness, weaken compliance and create unnecessary risk across organisations and teams.

Treating mandatory training as the employee's personal problem

If the employer requires it, the employer must organise, communicate and monitor it properly.

Treating completion as the whole answer

Mandatory training should link to competence, supervision and safe practice where relevant.

Failing to document expectations

If training responsibilities are unclear in contracts, induction or policy, disputes become more likely.

Ignoring working time and pay issues

Required training can count as working time, and pay or deduction decisions can create minimum wage risks.

Overlooking accessibility and reasonable adjustments

Training that all required staff cannot realistically complete is not well governed.

Assuming the same arrangement applies in every sector

A care provider, GP practice, school, agency, employer and commercial business may face different expectations and risks.

For a more setting-specific read, see our blogs on training requirements for general practice and statutory and mandatory training for care homes.

What should a good mandatory training system include?

A strong system for mandatory training should include:

• A training needs analysis linked to role and risk

• Clear written expectations for employers, managers and staff

• Induction and refresher arrangements

• Protected time or workable completion arrangements

• Records of completion and follow-up

• Supervision and competence checks were appropriate

• Reasonable adjustments and fair access

• Escalation where training is overdue or repeatedly missed.

For organisations strengthening wider workforce systems, this should also be linked to CPD-accredited online courses, local policies, appraisal processes, and governance oversight.

FAQs about employer vs employee responsibilities for mandatory training

Below are some of the most frequently asked questions and answers regarding employer and employee responsibilities for mandatory training.

Who is mainly responsible for mandatory training?

The employer is mainly responsible for deciding what training is required, providing access to it, monitoring completion and maintaining records. The employee is responsible for completing it and applying it in practice.

Does mandatory training have to be in the contract?

If someone started work on or after 6 April 2020, mandatory training expectations should be set out in the written statement of employment particulars, including any mandatory training the employer does not pay for.

Does mandatory training count as working time?

Training required by the employer is treated as working time for minimum wage purposes.

Does the employer have to pay for mandatory training?

It can depend on the contract, but employers should handle this carefully. Acas says whether payment is due can depend on the contract, and deductions for mandatory training must not take pay below the National Minimum Wage.

Can an employee refuse mandatory training?

An employee may raise genuine concerns or barriers, but refusing required training without good reason can become a conduct or capability issue depending on the circumstances.

Are employers responsible for refresher training?

Yes. If refresher training is part of the organisation's mandatory training requirements, the employer should plan, assign and monitor it.

Do agency and temporary staff need mandatory training too?

Yes. The exact contractual split may vary, but organisations still need assurance that anyone working for them is appropriately trained and supervised.

What if an employee needs adjustments to complete training?

The employer should consider reasonable adjustments under equality law so the worker is not placed at a substantial disadvantage.

Do employees have a legal right to ask for time off to train?

In some cases, yes. Employees in organisations with at least 250 staff may have the right to request time off for relevant training after at least 26 weeks' service.

What evidence should employers keep?

Training matrices, attendance or completion records, refresher dates, competency sign-off where relevant, supervision notes, and evidence of action taken where training requirements are not met.

Key message: Employers are responsible for designing, funding where required, enabling, monitoring and evidencing the mandatory training system. Employees are responsible for completing required training, engaging with it properly, applying it in practice, and promptly raising any barriers or support needs.

Conclusion

Employer and employee responsibilities for mandatory training are different, but they are closely connected. Employers are responsible for identifying what is needed, making it available, keeping the system fair and workable, and monitoring compliance. Employees are responsible for completing required training, applying it properly and raising issues when they need support or adjustments. When either side misunderstands its role, the result is usually poor compliance, weak assurance and avoidable risk.

The strongest organisations make these responsibilities explicit. They do not leave them to assumption, habit or inconsistent local practice. They define them in contracts, policies, induction, supervision and management systems, then support them with records that stand up to scrutiny.

Strengthen your mandatory training responsibilities framework

If you are reviewing mandatory training responsibilities across your workforce, explore our online statutory and mandatory training courses, as well as CPD-accredited online courses. You can also view our CPD Certification Service provider profile as part of our wider quality approach.

If you need a more structured way to manage assignments, completion, records, and oversight, please use our contact form to discuss your organisation's needs and requirements for mandatory training.