Employees have certain rights during a disciplinary hearing. One of these rights allows employees to ask a work colleague or trade union representative to accompany them at an internal disciplinary hearing. This right is set out under Section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999. There is often confusion about allowing a trade union representative to act as a companion at a disciplinary hearing. As an employer, it's important to note that you do not have to recognise the trade union for the representative to be allowed to attend any hearing.
Strictly speaking, the right to be accompanied at a disciplinary hearing does not include family members or legal representatives acting as companions. However, our advice is to take a view on such a request. For instance, you may have a trainee dental nurse who is very young and is particularly anxious about attending a disciplinary hearing. In these circumstances, in order to assist the smooth running of the disciplinary procedure and to obtain the necessary facts, it may be better to allow a family member to act as a companion. Recent case law has also determined that where an individual's professional career is at risk, such as a nurse or dentist, it may be appropriate to grant a request for legal representation. Legal representation at a disciplinary hearing remains only for the most serious of cases.
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