I have to get certifications as part of my job and because all of my coworkers and I keep failing these really hard tests, we aren’t allow to study during downtime on the clock. We were told to study on our own time.
Getting certs is part of what is required for me to get bigger raises and get promoted and all that jazz. I don’t want to use my personal time for this. None of the people who are in this predicament do.
I have a meeting in a few days to discuss goals and I need to figure out how to tell my boss that using my own time for work shit is unacceptable.
I really like this job other than this one aspect of it and I don’t want to make anyone mad, but I need to express my boundaries and all that
That hasn’t been my experience. Even places that pay for employees to get certified expect those employees to study on their own time unless they’re sent to formal training.
It depends on your job designation(and region tbh). Out of my personal experience in the states, If you are a “contractor” you are expected to pay for everything, but if you are an “employee” then the company is expected to pay for any additional training past what you brought to the table when you were hired. If they say that they are changing the job requirements and they now require you to get the next level license to continue your job, they must pay for that process, that is not something the employee is required to pay for.
Being said, it sounds like OP is being pushed a “if you want to be promoted you must do this” type of deal, which is completely fair as it’s an optional thing to gain more money, but you can’t push that as a requirement to keep your job without also putting yourself at risk of an employment case either under wage theft, improper dismissal or an unemployment claim if they did decide to fire the employee.
Maybe it varies by industry. I’m a software developer and even as an employee, I’m expected (but not formally required) to learn about advances in the relevant technologies, programming languages, etc. on my own time. If I didn’t and I was fired because my skills weren’t what the company needed anymore then I would get unemployment benefits, but I don’t see how either wage theft or improper dismissal could occur unless the company did something really weird.