The requirement is a starting point
The BACB’s professional development explainer, updated June 29, 2026, says RBTs begin earning PDUs after becoming certified or recertifying in 2026, with 12 PDUs required in each two-year cycle. It distinguishes qualifying university coursework, employer in-service training and ACE PD events. Our PDU guide covers the eligibility and documentation questions.
Our position is that a practice should go beyond sending a reminder and a course link. The organization should help staff identify a relevant learning opportunity and make participation feasible. This is a recommendation about how to support learning, not a claim that the BACB requires every employer to fund every event.
Put the time on the calendar
A learning plan is incomplete if its only date is the recertification deadline. Specify when the person can attend, who arranges any necessary coverage, and what happens if a session must be rescheduled. A recurring invitation without coverage can leave the same person choosing between two commitments each month.
We favor a stated budget for learning time as well as course fees. That means deciding in advance which activities the practice will support, what time it will allocate and how staff request an alternative. Compensation decisions must follow applicable rules; this article does not determine whether a particular activity must be paid. The editorial point is simpler: make the arrangement explicit before asking someone to enroll.
A small practice might choose a modest, predictable schedule instead of a large course library. A larger organization might offer several sessions so people on different schedules can participate. Neither arrangement is automatically better. Ask staff whether the proposed times are usable before calling the opportunity accessible.
Let RBTs help choose the question
Start with a question staff want to answer, rather than a platform’s longest catalog. For example: “How do I describe an observation clearly when I need help from my supervisor?” Ask what would make the topic useful, what background explanation is needed, and which format makes participation easier.
Staff input does not remove the organizer’s responsibility to check the event’s content, instructor and documentation requirements. It does help separate a learning need from a convenient item on a purchasing list. Offer a way to suggest topics privately, too; a public meeting should not be the only route to requesting help.
Include communication preferences and access needs in planning. Written prompts, advance materials or a different session time may be more useful than another reminder to attend. Do not require staff to disclose personal diagnoses to suggest a more workable format.
Make follow-up useful without relabeling supervision
The BACB explainer distinguishes RBT PD events from BCBA/BCaBA CE events and identifies client-specific training and certain supervision activities as nonqualifying content. Useful workplace learning and qualifying PDU activity are not interchangeable. Do not promise credit merely because an activity is educational.
After a qualifying event, a supervisor could ask the RBT to identify one idea worth discussing and one question that remains. Keep that follow-up separate from the event’s credit claim unless the organizer has established that it meets the relevant requirements. Applying an idea with a particular client requires appropriate supervision and attention to that person’s plan and preferences; completing a course is not permission to change a procedure independently.
For a hypothetical communication session, follow-up could use an invented scenario to practice separating an observation from an interpretation. A later conversation could consider where the explanation was clear and where more support was needed. This is a planning example, not a tested training package or a guarantee of better services.
Ask whether the opportunity actually worked
A completion count answers an administrative question. It does not tell you whether people could attend comfortably or use what they learned. Review cancellations, scheduling barriers and unanswered questions alongside completion records. Ask staff what they would keep or change, without treating praise as the required response.
Choose one small improvement for the next event: clearer advance instructions, another time slot, better examples or a named person for follow-up questions. Avoid claiming that attendance proves improved competence, reduced turnover or better client outcomes. Those are separate questions requiring appropriate evidence.
The aim is a learning arrangement people can explain: why this topic, when it happens, what support is available and where questions go afterward. That is a more useful promise than an impressive number of courses.
Sources and review
Primary sources checked October 22, 2026 through automated source-and-render review. This is ABA Signal editorial opinion, reviewed by Codex through automated source-and-render review. Workplace proposals in this article are not additional BACB requirements, legal advice, or demonstrated findings about retention or clinical outcomes.