There is a balance to be struck when it comes to allowing companions in meetings. Between ensuring the employee is properly supported and, in a position, to participate in the meeting, and having a meeting that is productive and remains confidential, sits alongside the requirements set down by the law.
Background
Alongside the statutory right to be accompanied at certain specific meetings, there are other requirements at play. This includes statutory guidance, which recommends good practice is to allow companions at flexible working meetings, and the duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments that could mean a companion at a much broader range of meetings not only appropriate, but a necessity. There can also be other circumstances to when allowing an employee to bring someone with them helps encourage a more constructive meeting outcome, when even though the law does not require it, it can be good practice to allow it.
When the law says you must allow the right to be accompanied
Sections 10–15 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 gives employees and workers the statutory right to be accompanied. This must be by either fellow worker, a trade union representative, or an official employed by a trade union who has been certified by their union as being competent to accompany a worker, to a disciplinary hearing. Specifically, hearings that could result in a formal warning, the taking of some other form of action (such as demotion or dismissal), or the confirmation of such an outcome (eg an appeal hearing). This includes warnings related to conduct or capability. This right also applies to grievance hearings too which, under s.13(5) of the 1999 Act, concern “the performance of a duty by an employer in relation to a worker”.
If the companion is unavailable for the hearing, under s.10 of the 1999 Act the employee can propose an alternative time that is reasonable and before the end of five working days beginning with the first working day after the day proposed by the employer.
The right to be accompanied for disciplinary and grievance hearings is enforced by the ability to bring a claim before an employment tribunal (ET) against an employer who fails, or threatens to fail, to comply with this right. Those who exercise or seek to exercise it are protected from being subjected to detriment or dismissal for doing so.
From case law, we know that this is an unfettered right (Shoaib-Brown v IQVIA [2023]). This means that as long as the companion is one of the above, they should be allowed to attend the hearing – even, as in that case, the companion has previously been disruptive in other meetings.
We also however now know, following Wolfe v Taka Mayfair Ltd [2026], that the right to be accompanied must first be reasonably requested by the worker for it to apply. There, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that where an employee failed to request for the right to be applied – even when they were unaware of the purpose of the meeting to which they were invited – then the right to be accompanied could not be breached as the request was essential for the right to be applied.
The Acas Code of Practice
The Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures also deals with the right to be accompanied. Whilst this is not law, as a statutory Code of Practice, if an employer fails to follow it can result in an uplift of up to 25% of any related ET award. In the current form of the Code, employers are instructed to inform workers of their right to be accompanied in writing ahead of the relevant meeting. It confirms the same categories of companion as the 1999 Act.
The non-statutory guidance that accompanies the Code states that good practice is to allow the companion to participate as fully as possible in the hearing. This could include, for example, asking witnesses questions. The companion can also address the hearing, put the worker’s case, sum it up, respond on the worker’s behalf to views expressed, and confer with the worker during the hearing.
Now, the above is set to change. Acas have launched a consultation on an updated draft of the Code, which contains the first major revisions to it since 2009. This is open until 23 September 2026. Under the updated wording, employers are encouraged to consider allowing companions beyond the statutory categories. This could be allowing a companion at meetings where the statutory right does not apply, or it could be allowing a postponement beyond the legally mandated five days if it helps resolve the concern. These changes are designed to make the disciplinary process more inclusive and flexible while reducing potential barriers for employees seeking support. This extended postponement also finds support in case law, where it has been found that in certain circumstances, especially where dismissal might follow, longer than five working days to rearrange a meeting should be considered where a companion is unavailable, if doing so would not cause unreasonable delay. Whilst previously this was in the guidance to the Code, it is now part of the statutory element – meaning it is something that can be considered by an ET when passing judgment on a case.
The updated draft Code, for the first time, references employers’ obligations under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for workers with disabilities. It states that reasonable adjustments could include a support worker being allowed to accompany a worker to bring a support worker who has knowledge of their disability, or an interpreter where needed.
Equality Act 2010 and the right to be accompanied
The right to be accompanied is not found in the Equality Act 2010. However, what it does is put employers under a duty to make reasonable adjustments for employees with disabilities, which could include allowing them a companion – something that has been addressed in the draft updated Code.
This was addressed by the ET in Crew and Mason v Three Milestone Education Ltd [2023]. In that case, an employee who had anxiety and depression, of which the employer was aware, was suspended and invited to a formal disciplinary hearing. They were forbidden from contacting their colleagues who may have acted as their companion to the formal hearing. They asked for their mother to come instead, but this was refused. The ET found the employer failed to make reasonable adjustments despite it being one, in the ET’s opinion, that was easy to fulfil.
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