can work force me to go??

[Raven24]

i work two eveings a week in out local supermarket and i work 10 hours in total from 5pm to 10pm hubby minds the kids.
i have had a letter from head office informing me that i am due to attend a health and safety course in a few weeks from 9am till 4pm, i told my manager i could not attend due to having noone to have the kids and i am still breastfeeding so cant be away from younges all day.
well he said i am contractually obliged to attend these courses and that i am going to have to go at some point and he asked how long i was planning on breastfeeding for and when i said two years minimum he looked shocked.
ive read my contract and it does say i will have ot attend courses but nothing about if you have children.
he kept saying well cant you leave them with grandparents but they all work and then suggested leaving them with my sister in law!! i was getting a bit peeved at this point, who does he think he is telling me to just dump my kids with anyone

so my question is does anyone know where i stand legally on this as i am going to have to call head office tomorrow and see what they say, can they force me to go or sack me if i refuse. thanks and sorry its so long

 

[Leopard]

Take them with you

 

[Reid]

id phone and talk with a member of HR xx

 

[My_First]

I would think that if the course is mandatory to your job, then I would think you would have to go. I guess its like being a first aider but not being able to go on a first aid course, therefore not able to do the job. You may well be able to put it off until its conveient, or as another poster suggested, take bubs with you?

 

[womblemum]

The requirement for an employer to enable you to breast feed would apply in this circumstance although they may be able to get away with just providing you an area to express and then somewhere to store the milk. Not being able to get childcare is unfortunately not their problem

 

[Dinah93]

Yes they can require you to go under your contract, but they do have a legal obligation to provide you with a private place to breastfeed. Do you have a mum friend who could take the kids for one day, and you can repay the favour to her at a later date?

 

[babyblog]

I would think that it is a reasonable demand if it's jus a one off.COldnt you do that one week in place of your two evening shifts and your hubbie jus take the day off.In terms of BF - you don't do it for the 5 hours you do your shift, maybe you could do e course in two parts, so two half days which is the same as your two shifts anyway?