Employer-sponsored training

In statistics on in-service training, in-service training refers to any employee training, paid for by the employer, which relates to an employee's occupation or profession or trade union activities, and which an employee attends at full or reduced pay, or against full or partial compensation in money or time off.

In the Continuing Vocational Training Survey, CVTS, continuing vocational training is training measures or activities, which the enterprises finance, partly or wholly. Continuing vocational training measures and activities include continuing vocational training courses (CVT courses) and other forms of continuing vocational training.

Continuing vocational training courses may be:
a) managed internally (continuing vocational training courses that were designed and managed by the enterprise itself) or
b) managed externally (continuing vocational training courses that were designed and managed by organisations not part of the enterprise)

Other forms of continuing vocational training are:
c) planned periods of training, instruction or practical experience, using the normal tools of work, either at the immediate place of work or in the work situation
d) planned learning through job rotation, exchanges or secondments
e) attendance at learning or quality circles
f) self-learning and distance learning through using audio or video tapes, correspondence courses, computer-based methods (including use of the Internet) or other self-learning/distance learning through Learning Resources Centres
g) instruction at conferences, workshops, lectures and seminars at which the purpose of the employees attending the events is to learn/receive training.

In the Adult Education Survey all adult education partly or wholly paid for by the respondent's employer was considered to be employer-sponsored training regardless of its content. This may have been entirely sponsored by the employer, in the sense that all the respondent's expenses were paid and the event took place entirely within working hours.

All such adult education was considered partly sponsored by the employer where the employer had taken part in its costs and/or the training or its part had taken place within working hours, but in addition the respondent had had to spend some leisure time or holiday time on it, obtain leave of absence for study purposes and/or had to contribute towards the costs.

The questions on costs and use of time applied only to adult education connected with the respondent's work or occupation that had been provided by adult education organisations (or equivalent forms of adult training).