All employees are entitled to be accompanied to a disciplinary hearing, that may result in disciplinary action (including dismissal) being taken against them, by either a colleague or Trade Union representative. Where a school fails to allow the employee to be accompanied to a disciplinary hearing and they subsequently bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal, this failure in itself attracts a separate award of compensation.
As a side note, there is no automatic legal right for an employee to be accompanied to a fact finding / investigation meeting. However, most schools allow this and your policies and procedures may provide the employee with this right. If so, you may wish to amend your policy, so that this right is given “provided there is no unreasonable delay”.
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