You are asked to train the new hire who just arrived, amidst two urgent files and a meeting to prepare. The workload increases without anyone formally asking you, and you wonder: is this task really part of your job?
The answer depends on several concrete elements, from the employment contract to the collective agreement, including the directives from your hierarchy. Here’s what can actually be imposed on you, and what falls within your leeway.
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Invisible burden of internal training: what your job description does not say
When a manager assigns you the training of a colleague, it is rarely done in writing. Most often, the request comes verbally, without a time frame or defined objectives. You find yourself juggling your own tasks and supporting the newcomer.
The underlying problem is this: the time spent training a colleague is almost never counted as productive work. According to sector-specific collective agreements, particularly in industry and services, this activity remains classified as an ancillary task. It generally does not entitle you to a bonus or a schedule adjustment.
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Before accepting or refusing, it is wise to check one specific point: whether can I be forced to train a colleague directly depends on what your contract and collective agreement stipulate.
If your job description mentions mentoring, skills transfer, or supporting new employees, the margin for refusal is slim. If nothing of the sort is included, the situation is more nuanced.
Employment contract and subordination link: concrete legal limits
Labor law does not contain an article that obliges an employee to train their peers. The legal obligation to provide training falls on the employer, not the employee. This is a distinction that many managers ignore or circumvent.
On the other hand, the subordination link gives the employer the power of direction. They can assign you new tasks, as long as they remain compatible with your qualifications and your contract. Training a colleague falls into this gray area.
When refusal exposes you to a sanction
A refusal can be considered a fault if training is part of your contractual duties. This is the case when your contract includes a mentoring clause, or when your collective agreement explicitly provides for this task for your job category.
Responses on this point vary according to professional sectors. In some companies, labor court case law has upheld disciplinary sanctions up to a warning for persistent refusal. In other contexts, the absence of a contractual clause has favored the employee.
When refusal is legitimate
Several situations make a refusal defensible:
- Your employment contract does not mention any training, mentoring, or skills transfer duties, and the request substantially alters your responsibilities
- The training burden is added to your usual tasks without any schedule adjustment or reduction in objectives, creating an overload that can resemble a deterioration of working conditions
- You have received no pedagogical training to carry out this task, and the employer offers no support to prepare you for it
In these cases, formulating a reasoned refusal in writing (email or letter) provides more protection than an oral refusal that leaves room for interpretation.
Disciplinary risk and power dynamics with the employer
Refusing outright carries a real risk, even when you are in the right. Labor disputes take time, cost energy, and the power dynamics in a company do not always favor the employee.
Rather than a blunt refusal, a more protective approach is to set conditions in writing:
- Request a formal framework: duration of the task, specific objectives, number of dedicated weekly hours
- Demand a proportional reduction of your other tasks during the training period
- Request formal recognition, whether it be a mention in your annual review, a mentoring bonus provided by certain sector agreements, or recognition in your professional development
- Keep a written record of every exchange with your hierarchy on this subject
Negotiating a written framework reduces the risk of sanction and overload. An employer who refuses any adjustment places themselves in a fragile position in case of a dispute.
Training a colleague during a resignation notice: a special case
The situation becomes even more complicated when you are asked to train your replacement during a notice period. The resigning employee remains subject to the subordination link until the last day of the notice. Therefore, the employer can assign them this task.
The notice period does not exempt you from contractual obligations, including the transfer of know-how if the contract or collective agreement provides for it. A refusal during this period may be classified as a fault and, in some cases, justify a deduction from the final settlement.
The limit remains the same: the request must remain reasonable and compatible with your usual workload. Training your successor on three years of procedures in two weeks of notice exceeds what can reasonably be expected.
What training a colleague can really bring you
Transmitting your skills is not just a burden. When the task is properly framed, it offers tangible benefits for your career.
Training someone forces you to structure your own knowledge. You identify gaps in your methods, clarify processes that you applied by habit. The transfer reinforces your mastery of your own position.
Professionally, documented mentoring experience is an asset during an annual review or an internal mobility request. Some collective agreements provide a specific bonus for employees designated as mentors.
The issue is not to accept or refuse outright, but to obtain the conditions that make the task manageable: a time frame, recognition, and a reduction in workload. Without these three elements, training a colleague remains a burdensome task that ultimately weighs on the quality of your own work.