Professional Training, Certification and Membership Policy

OBJECTIVE

[Company Name] encourages employees to enhance knowledge and skills and to network with other professionals. [Company Name] recognizes that for development purposes, employees may need to attend training seminars or workshops conducted off-site or join professional associations that will enable them to remain abreast of best practices in their respective fields. Please note that this policy is subject to annual company budgets established for external training and memberships.

POLICY

In support of this program, we offer a training benefit to full-time employees who have been employed by the company for at least six months. The benefit can be used for costs associated with:

• Professional exams (e.g., PMP, SHRM-CP/SCP, Six Sigma, CPA) and exam preparation courses.
• Certificate programs and credentials.
• Courses offered by an accredited institution, including e-learning.
• Workshops, seminars and conferences.
• Membership in professional organizations.
• Magazine subscriptions. 

Employees may be permitted to attend one off-site seminar, conference or workshop annually that will be paid for by the company. The training event to be attended must have a direct relationship to the job the employee performs. For work scheduling purposes, the employee's request for attendance must be received at least one month in advance of the event, and the employee's department manager must approve the request.

Employees may request reimbursement for membership with a professional association. The association selected must have a direct relationship to the job the employee performs. The employee must provide a membership-request supporting document that outlines the benefits to be gained by the company as a result of such membership, and the association application and supporting document must be presented to the employee's department manager for approval.

[Company Name] reserves the right to determine which training courses, certifications and association memberships are appropriate for reimbursement. The human resources department will review all requests, determine priorities and approve or disapprove requests based on the company's annual budget established for these programs.

PROCEDURE

To request reimbursement under this policy, the employee must submit a request by completing a professional development request form and forwarding it to his or her supervisor. If approved, the supervisor will send the form to human resources (HR). HR will then notify the employee and supervisor when the request is approved or denied.

The employee may incur expenses only after receiving approval from the development committee. The employee must then submit the following documents to the finance department:

• Expense reimbursement form.
• Receipt.
• Copy of the approved professional development request form.

After concluding training, the employee must submit a certificate of completion or similar document and a professional development report (when applicable) to HR to be filed in the employee's personnel file.

[Company Name] will reimburse an employee who retakes an exam only if the score received on the second exam is higher than a prior score and the score received on the second exam is considered a passing score.

[Company Name] will not pay for an employee to retake a training course.

Travel expenses may be permitted if the training is not available locally. See company travel policy for approval and reimbursement procedure.