Do employees have the right to be accompanied or represented at disciplinary and grievance meetings / hearings? What is the difference between ‘accompanied’ and ‘represented’ and what / who determines whether an employee has a right to be accompanied or represented?

Employees have a statutory right to be accompanied where they are required or invited by their employer to attend disciplinary hearings which could result in:

• a formal warning being issued;
• the taking of some disciplinary action (i.e. suspension without pay, demotion or dismissal); and/or
• the confirmation of a warning or some other form of disciplinary action (such as an appeal hearing).

Employees also have the right to be accompanied to a grievance hearing. There is no legal right for an employee to be accompanied to informal discussions, counselling sessions or investigatory meetings, although the employer may still allow it. The employee’s companion can either be a fellow colleague or