Who it is for
Line managers chairing disciplinary, grievance, absence or capability meetings, and the HR teams who brief them.
What it covers
- Which meetings the statutory right covers, and which it does not.
- Who can be a companion, and when to allow someone else, including as a reasonable adjustment.
- What the companion can and cannot do in the meeting.
- The five working day postponement rule, and when a longer delay is still reasonable.
- Paid time off, protection from detriment and the cost of getting it wrong.
- Practical tips, and the mistakes that get employers into trouble.
The law it reflects
Checked against the law in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) as at 19 October 2026.
- The right comes from section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 and is reinforced by the Acas Code. It applies to meetings that could lead to a formal warning or other disciplinary action, appeals, and grievance hearings about a duty you owe the worker.
- In Talon Engineering Ltd v Smith (2018), the Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld an unfair dismissal finding where the employer refused a delay of under two weeks so a union official could attend. Meeting the five-day rule does not always make a refusal fair.
- A worker can claim up to two weeks' pay if the right is breached. A week's pay is capped at £751 from 6 April 2026. Claims about failures on or after 1 October 2026 have a six-month time limit.
- Dismissing a worker or a companion for using the right, or for accompanying someone, is automatically unfair, whatever their length of service.
Before you use it
It is a starting point, not legal advice. Fill in the placeholders, set your own timescales, and check it fits how your organisation actually works. Take advice if a case is complex, could involve discrimination, or may end up at a tribunal. Northern Ireland has different rules in several areas.
Need more? See the Disciplinary Process Pack. 16 customised documents: the policy plus leaders' guidance, a decision matrix, an investigation plan, suspension, hearing and outcome letters, and appeals. £79 + VAT, one-off.