Hi all,
I'm new here and hope someone can help me. I received a letter out of the blue from HR asking me to attend a disciplinary hearing. The initial letter stated:
But then the same person said in an email:
I then queried which unions are affliated with the company and they said:
After that I asked about colleagues attending with me and asked for a delay to the hearing date because most of my colleagues are working abroad on assignment. The delayed it until next tuesday and issued a new letter which stated:
Anyway I started reading up on this and found various websites stating that I absolutely do have the right to be bring along a union representative, e.g. Abbey Legal Protection website states:
I obviously really appreciate any help. Maybe I will outline some more details later about their allegations and about the grievance I may raise about victimisation. Oh by the way, this is not a gross misconduct case. In fact it's pretty trivial (my immediate managers and co-workers don't think I did anything wrong), but I am worried that they are just looking for any excuse to get rid of me eventually.
Tom
I'm new here and hope someone can help me. I received a letter out of the blue from HR asking me to attend a disciplinary hearing. The initial letter stated:
You have the right to be accompanied at the hearing by a fellow worker or trade union official if you so wish.
But then the same person said in an email:
For all disciplinary meetings, employees are entitled to be accompanied either by a fellow colleague or if they happened to be a member of a union (and that union was affiliated to the company) then you could bring a representative.
I then queried which unions are affliated with the company and they said:
We are not affiliated to and therefore do not recognise any unions. You are welcome to bring a colleague to the meeting.
After that I asked about colleagues attending with me and asked for a delay to the hearing date because most of my colleagues are working abroad on assignment. The delayed it until next tuesday and issued a new letter which stated:
You retain the right to be accompanied at the hearing by a fellow worker of your choice.
Anyway I started reading up on this and found various websites stating that I absolutely do have the right to be bring along a union representative, e.g. Abbey Legal Protection website states:
The statutory provisions that confer on workers the right to be accompanied by a trade union
official, a trade union representative or a fellow employee of their choice do not restrict this to
officials of trade unions that the employer recognises. This means that the worker can be
accompanied by an official of any trade union, regardless of whether you recognise them or whether the worker is even a union member.
The ACAS website also states similar. It seems pretty clear cut to me but I know that there can often be gotchas and loopholes in the law that employers exploit. Can anyone with experience let me know who's really right? I work in the IT Service industry and am not a member of a union but I would want to join one because I believe that I am being victimised at work. Can anyone suggest a union and how I could get union representation in a reasonable timeframe. The hearing will be in Bracknell (Nr. London). Based on what people say here and reading further I am going to make a decision and probably will tell them that I will not attend due to their misrepresentation of the law and ask for a further extension.I obviously really appreciate any help. Maybe I will outline some more details later about their allegations and about the grievance I may raise about victimisation. Oh by the way, this is not a gross misconduct case. In fact it's pretty trivial (my immediate managers and co-workers don't think I did anything wrong), but I am worried that they are just looking for any excuse to get rid of me eventually.
Tom
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