Organising In-Person Training for Healthcare Teams: Rosters, Cover and Release

Getting a healthcare team into a training room is rarely a legal problem and almost always a rostering one. Wards, nursing homes, disability houses and clinics run on minimum staffing, so every training day has to be planned around cover, rest periods and release time. This guide sets out the legal points that matter when organising in-person training for healthcare teams in Dublin, as stated by Citizens Information and HIQA, and then offers practical planning suggestions that are clearly labelled as ours. For the rules on rest and breaks in more depth, see our guide to rest breaks, night work and working time.

The legal points that affect training days

This section is based on Citizens Information pages, with the date each page shows, apart from the points labelled as our suggestions and the reference to the HSA's sharps guide. Employment law is national, so nothing here is specific to Dublin.

Breaks, daily rest and weekly rest

According to Citizens Information (page last edited 27 January 2025), an employee is entitled to a 15-minute break after more than 4.5 hours of work and a 30-minute break after more than 6 hours (which can include the first 15 minutes). They are entitled to 11 consecutive hours of rest in any 24-hour period, and to a weekly rest of 24 consecutive hours in any 7 days, following a daily rest period. The page says exceptions can apply in exceptional circumstances, under approved collective agreements and for some shift work, and that where normal rest cannot be given, compensatory rest applies. It also lists categories of worker that the law does not cover.

The practical point is simple, and it is our suggestion rather than a statement from the page: plan rest around the full training day, because an early-morning course after a late or night shift can collide with the daily rest period. Check that the person's rest is intact before you roster them onto a training day.

The weekly hours limit

Citizens Information's page on working hours says the limit is 48 hours in an average working week, averaged over a reference period. The page gives 4 months for most employees and 6 months for certain sectors that include hospitals, and says 12 months is possible only if agreed with the employer and approved by the Labour Court. Trainee doctors are subject to special regulations. If you plan a block of training in a particular month, remember that the hours count towards the average.

Night work

Citizens Information (last edited 27 January 2025) defines night work as work between midnight and 7am and says a night worker should average no more than 8 hours in any 24-hour period, with the employer required to offer a free health assessment before night work starts and at regular intervals. If your team includes night staff, plan their training so that it does not push their hours outside these rules.

Paid time for training

Citizens Information's health and safety page (last edited 25 August 2022) says employers must provide instruction and training to employees on health and safety, and must allow paid time off for safety awareness training. It does not say whether training must take place during working hours. The page on working hours (last edited 27 January 2025) does not address whether training time counts as working time. Our guide to paid hours for training time goes through the question in more depth, and the HSA's guide to the sharps regulations separately says employees are entitled to time off for that training without loss of pay. If a course is neither health and safety training nor otherwise covered, the position depends on the contract and your policy, so decide it in advance and tell staff.

Working time records

Citizens Information (last edited 10 August 2026) says employers must keep working time records, including hours worked, leave and (unless certain conditions are met) rest periods and breaks, for 3 years, and a copy of any written notice of working time such as a weekly rota. Log training days in the same system as other hours so the records stay consistent.

What HIQA says about staffing and rosters

In the designated centre regulations we read on irishstatutebook.ie (S.I. 415/2013 for older people and S.I. 367/2013 for disability services, as made), Regulation 15 requires the number and skill mix of staff to be appropriate to residents' needs and the size and layout of the centre. Regulation 16 requires staff to have access to appropriate training, and in the disability regulations that includes refresher training as part of a continuous professional development programme. HIQA's guidance for older people's centres (Version 3.1, May 2025) says inspectors compare planned and actual rotas and look at training records, including attendance records.

The point for planners is that a training day must not leave the service short of appropriately skilled staff, and the roster must show what actually happened. The guidance says a gap between a planned and actual rota is something inspectors look at, so record changes made to release people for training.

HSeLanD, the HSE's national online learning portal, is described on its own page as being for staff in HSE hospital and community settings, Section 38 voluntary hospitals, Section 39 organisations working in health or allied services, and students on health programmes. Our explainer on HSeLanD mandatory training covers how that online learning fits in; it can reduce the number of days staff spend in a room, but practical skills in some topics may still call for in-person sessions.

Practical planning: our suggestions

The following are suggestions, not legal requirements.

Plan backwards from expiry

• Start from your training records matrix and list who is due in the next six to twelve months.
• Group staff by service location and shift pattern, then choose dates that fit the pattern rather than forcing staff into a single date.

Run several smaller sessions

• Offer repeated sessions of the same course on different days and times so that each unit can send a few people at a time.
• Avoid training days that follow a night shift or a late shift; check the rest period before confirming.

Roster the release, not just the attendance

• Put the training day on the planned roster as a shift, with named cover, rather than relying on goodwill.
• Agree in advance how bank or agency cover is arranged, and make sure those staff have had the orientation your service expects. HIQA's guidance for older people's centres refers to orientation topics for agency and contract staff.
• Tell staff early whether the day is paid, how travel is treated, and what happens if they cannot attend.

Think about location

• A central Dublin venue can reduce travel between sites, but the time and cost of travel between a service and a venue should be considered when you build the day.
• Where a skill is practical, such as manual handling, an in-person session lets staff practise with the equipment and a trainer present.

Close the loop

• Record attendance on the day and update the matrix and roster together.
• Follow up absentees promptly so that a missed session is rebooked rather than forgotten.

What we could not confirm

We did not find a Citizens Information page that states whether a particular training course counts as working time, and we did not review HSE or HIQA guidance on rostering for training specifically. The HIQA guidance we read is for older people's centres. Services outside designated centres are regulated differently.

Learnsignal's offices are off Baggot Street in Dublin, and we offer in-person training from there. For current details, see our CPD pages.

Frequently asked questions

Does the law say training must happen in working hours?

The Citizens Information pages we read say employers must allow paid time off for safety awareness training but do not say whether training must take place during working hours. See our guide on paid hours for training time for the wider picture.

Can we run a training day straight after a night shift?

That risks cutting into the 11-hour daily rest period. Citizens Information explains the rest entitlements and the limited exceptions, so check these before rostering.

Do hospital staff have a different weekly hours limit?

The limit is 48 hours on average. Citizens Information lists hospitals among the sectors with a 6-month reference period, and says trainee doctors are subject to special regulations.

How should we record release for training?

Our suggestion is to show it on the planned roster and in your working time records, and to log attendance in your training matrix.

Good training logistics protect both compliance and patient or resident cover, and a plan agreed early is far easier to run than a scramble in the week before.