Supporting Someone with a Problem at Work

Formal grievance and/or disciplinary meetings:

Note on this page we refer to workers however all rights mentioned also applies to employees. For more information on employment status and the difference between an employee and worker visit our page on {how to work out your employment status}.

Workers have the legal right to be accompanied to the following types of work meeting:

1. A formal grievance meeting; and
2. A disciplinary meeting (when that meeting could result in the issue or confirmation of a formal warning or disciplinary action e.g. demotion or dismissal)

This right applies to all workers regardless of how long they have worked somewhere for.

This means that a worker can bring along a person known as a companion to a formal grievance or disciplinary meeting (See: Who can be a companion? below). They can ask for a meeting to be stopped so they can arrange a companion to attend at an alternative time if they were not told about their right to a companion beforehand.

The request to be accompanied at the meeting must be reasonable (See Making a reasonable request for a companion below).

There is no right to be accompanied to a disciplinary investigation meeting, however it is good practice for employers to allow it.

Sickness Absence Management

The legal right to be accompanied is likely to extend to sickness absence meetings (where that meeting might result in the issue or confirmation of a formal warning or disciplinary action).

Flexible Working Requests

There is no legal right to be accompanied to a flexible working request meeting. Check the employer’s policy to see if they allow one anyway. ACAS states it is good practice for employers to allow workers to have a companion, so your friend could still try and request one.

Further information about flexible working requests can be found in the ACAS Code of Practice.

Redundancy Consultation

There is no legal right to be accompanied to an individual redundancy consultation meeting but again, ACAS recommends it as good practice – so your friend may still wish to request one.

For further information about redundancy rights, visit: https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights.

The worker must reasonably request to be accompanied to their grievance or disciplinary meeting. There is no set definition of what is “reasonable”. The legal position is that if the worker has chosen someone who qualifies as a companion, employers must not usually reject their choice of companion (See Who can be a companion below).

It is good practice to take practicalities such as geographic location and availability into consideration when choosing a companion. However, these considerations cannot usually be used as grounds for rejecting a companion.

The ACAS Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures recommends that a request for a companion be made to the employer well in advance of the meeting, and is easy to understand (e.g. sets out the companion’s name, job and contact details).

You can accompany someone to a formal grievance or disciplinary meeting if you are:

• A work colleague;
• A trade union representative; or
• A trade union official

Trade union representatives and officials can still be a companion, even if the worker who has chosen them is not a member of a trade union and / or the employer does not officially recognise a union.

See Circumstances where other companions might be allowed to attend for potential exceptions to the list of people who can usually act as a companion.

Accompanying someone to a meeting is voluntary: you are under no obligation to do so and should not be pressurised by anyone to act (or not act) as a companion. If you do act as a companion for a work colleague, you have the right to paid time off for the entirety of the meeting. The ACAS Code also recommends that you be allowed paid time off to familiarise yourself with the situation (e.g. read any relevant paperwork) and confer with the worker before and after the meeting.

You must not be subject to any detriment (e.g. demotion; pay deduction) or dismissal for fulfilling the role of a companion. You can complain to an Employment Tribunal if you are not allowed paid time off to help.

The ACAS Code recommends allowing different people to attend a disciplinary or grievance meeting in two instances:

• To accompany someone with a disability. It could be a reasonable adjustment (under the Equality Act 2010) for someone with e.g. a learning disability, to have a friend, family member or carer be their chosen companion. This is to help the worker understand and fully participate in the meeting. A failure to make such an adjustment may be regarded as discriminatory.
• To allow an interpreter to attend if the worker has difficulty speaking English.  

If either of the above apply to the person you are supporting with a problem at work, they may wish to make a special request for a different companion.

There are some very rare circumstances where (under Article 6 European Convention on Human Rights (right to a fair trial)) a worker might have the right to be accompanied to a disciplinary meeting by a lawyer, where the outcome of the disciplinary process could directly lead to a ban from working in their chosen profession (e.g. a legal bar to working as a doctor, carer or teacher). If you think your friend falls into this category, they may wish to request legal representation at their meeting.

If the worker has the legal right to be accompanied to a meeting but you, as their companion, are unavailable at the proposed date and time, the worker can propose an alternative time which is both:

• Reasonable (e.g. within normal working hours for everyone due to be involved in the meeting); and
• Is within five working days of the employer’s originally proposed meeting date

If these requirements are satisfied, the employer must postpone the meeting until the proposed alternative time.

If you are going to be unavailable to act as a companion for several weeks (e.g. due to annual leave) it might be reasonable for the employer to ask your friend to choose an alternative companion.

When accompanying someone to a formal grievance or disciplinary meeting you can:

• make an opening statement and present their case;
• take written notes;
• speak to the meeting holders and ask questions on the worker’s behalf (including requests for breaks);
• confer with the worker privately e.g. on answers they may or may not want to give;
• object to unfair lines of questioning; and
• present a closing statement, summing up the worker’s key points

You cannot:

• answer questions on the worker’s behalf;
• address the hearing without the worker’s consent;
• prevent the worker or anyone else from explaining their side of things; or
• be disruptive

Can you record the meeting?

You can record the meeting with knowledge of both parties (employer and worker). However, it may be misconduct if you or the worker do not inform the employer that the meeting is being recorded. This could lead to potential disciplinary action.

By recording a meeting covertly, you could capture sensitive business information and this could break the mutual trust and confidence between the employer and the worker (or you), depending on factors such as:

• the purpose of the recording;
• your / the worker’s blameworthiness; and/or
• what has been recorded

It is good practice for parties to clarify before a meeting starts if there is any intention to record the meeting. We recommend that you (or the worker themselves) inform the person holding the meeting if either of you intend to record the meeting (and to ask their consent to do so). If they are not informed, the worker will need to justify why this was done secretly, bearing points (a) to (c) above in mind.   

A worker can complain to an Employment Tribunal if:

• their legal right to be accompanied is refused;
• the companion is not allowed to fulfil their role in the meeting; or
• the employer does not agree to a reasonable request to postpone the meeting.

This may result in an award of two weeks’ pay and / or an uplift in any compensation awarded for a successful unfair dismissal claim (which is a type of claim that employees can bring).

Please see the government website for more information about the Employment Tribunal process.

Where can I get specialist advice?

We’ve compiled a list of advice centres in London to help you find out where to get help.

The following services can also provide general advice on employment rights:

• Law Centres (national) – click here to find out if you have a local free legal advice centre
• Citizens Advice – click here to find your nearest Citizens Advice
• ACAS (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service)

Visit our {Employment Rights Hub} homepage for more information and find further details on where to get specialist advice on our page about fair and equal treatment at work.