Is the Right to Be Accompanied at Work Changing? What Employees and Employers Need to Know
If you have been invited to a disciplinary or grievance meeting, you may be worried about facing the process alone. You might not belong to a trade union, may feel uncomfortable asking a colleague to attend, or believe you need someone with relevant experience who can help you understand what is happening.
Employers may have a different concern: if the Acas Code changes, will they have to allow relatives, solicitors or independent workplace advisers into every meeting?
The short answer is no — at least, that is not what the current proposal says.
The proposed new Acas Code does not widen the statutory categories of companion. The legal right would remain, in most cases, a right to be accompanied by a fellow worker, a qualifying trade union representative or an official employed by a trade union.
However, the draft Code gives much greater recognition to the value of accompaniment. It encourages employers to consider allowing support at meetings where the statutory right does not apply if doing so could help resolve the issue. It also says that allowing more than five working days to rearrange a meeting may sometimes be reasonable when a chosen companion is unavailable.
These are proposals, not yet the final Code or a change in the law. The distinction matters.
Why is Acas proposing a new Code?
The Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures was last fully revised in 2009, with changes to its accompaniment guidance in 2015.
Acas published a new draft Code for consultation on 30 July 2026. The consultation remains open until 23 September 2026. Acas will consider the responses before deciding whether to modify the draft. Any updated Code would then need to go through the relevant approval and parliamentary process.
The Code is important because employment tribunals must take it into account in relevant cases. In certain claims, a tribunal may increase or reduce compensation by up to 25% where an employer or employee has unreasonably failed to comply with it.
The proposed changes are intended to encourage concerns to be handled earlier, fairly and with less unnecessary escalation. Accompaniment is part of that wider discussion because the right support can help someone understand the process and communicate clearly.
What is the current right to be accompanied?
Under section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999, a worker has a statutory right to make a reasonable request to be accompanied at certain formal disciplinary and grievance hearings.
The right normally applies to:
A formal disciplinary hearing that could result in a warning or other disciplinary action
A disciplinary appeal hearing
A qualifying formal grievance hearing
A grievance appeal hearing
The legal position can depend on the purpose and nature of the meeting, not simply the name the employer has given it.
There is generally no automatic statutory right to be accompanied at an informal discussion or disciplinary investigation meeting. An employer’s own policy may provide a wider right, and accompaniment might also need to be considered because of Equality Act 2010 obligations.
Where the statutory right applies, the companion will normally need to be:
A fellow worker
A trade union representative who is appropriately certified or trained
An official employed by a trade union
An employee does not currently have a general statutory right to insist upon being accompanied by a relative, friend, solicitor or independent professional adviser. An employer can nevertheless agree to this, and some employment policies already allow greater flexibility.
What would the proposed Acas Code change?
The draft does not simply repeat the legal minimum. It places greater emphasis on what appropriate support can contribute to a fair process.
Greater consideration when no statutory right applies
The draft says that if a worker asks to be accompanied to a meeting where the statutory right does not apply, it is good practice for the employer to consider the request.
This could be relevant to an investigation meeting, an informal conversation or another workplace meeting falling outside the statutory definition.
It does not mean that every request must be accepted. The employer would still need to consider the individual circumstances. Relevant factors might include the employee’s health, the seriousness of the issue, the nature of the proposed companion, the employer’s policy and whether accompaniment would help the meeting proceed fairly and constructively.
From an employee’s perspective, this is helpful recognition that support should not always be treated as an inconvenience or threat.
From an employer’s perspective, it means that an automatic response of “you have no legal right” may no longer be enough to demonstrate good practice. The employer should consider what is being requested, why it is needed and whether it could assist resolution.
More flexibility when a companion is unavailable
The law currently provides that, when the chosen statutory companion cannot attend, the employer must postpone the hearing to a reasonable alternative time proposed by the worker if it falls within the prescribed five-working-day period.
The draft Code recognises that it may sometimes be reasonable to allow a longer postponement, particularly where dismissal could be an outcome. It says a longer delay may be fair if it would not cause unreasonable delay.
This does not create an unlimited right to postpone a meeting. Employers still need to manage cases promptly, while employees and companions are expected to make every effort to attend.
It does, however, encourage a more considered response. A decision to continue with a potentially career-changing hearing simply because a trusted companion is unavailable on the original date may not always be reasonable.
Clearer links to equality and reasonable adjustments
The proposed Code expressly refers to employers’ obligations under the Equality Act 2010.
Depending on the circumstances, a disabled worker may require adjustments to participate fully. The draft gives examples that include permitting a support worker with knowledge of the person’s disability. An interpreter may also be appropriate where a language barrier would prevent full participation.
This is separate from the ordinary statutory right to be accompanied. Whether an adjustment is legally required will depend on the facts, including whether the employee is disabled for Equality Act purposes, the disadvantage experienced and whether the proposed adjustment is reasonable.
Employers should therefore avoid treating every request for additional support as though it were only a question about the statutory companion categories.
Why accompaniment matters to an employee
Consider an employee who has been invited to a disciplinary hearing after several months of sickness absence. The allegations are lengthy, their confidence has been affected and they do not belong to a union. They are worried that a colleague might feel pressured or later be treated differently for helping them.
The employer may have an HR adviser supporting the hearing manager. The employee, meanwhile, is expected to absorb the allegations, listen to the evidence, answer questions and recognise anything inaccurate while managing considerable anxiety.
A companion cannot simply take over the meeting. Under the statutory framework, they can put and sum up the worker’s case, respond to points made and confer with the worker. An employer does not normally have to allow them to answer questions on the worker’s behalf or prevent others from contributing.
Even within those boundaries, appropriate support can make an important difference. The difficulty is that being allowed into the room is only one part of effective support. An inexperienced colleague may offer valuable reassurance but may not know which issues require clarification or how the employer is likely to assess the evidence.
Preparation before the meeting is therefore just as important as attendance itself.
What employers should consider
Employers may understandably worry that widening access to companions will make meetings more formal, adversarial or difficult to manage.
That can happen if expectations and roles are unclear. But refusing support automatically can create different risks. An employee who feels overwhelmed may struggle to explain their position, important evidence may be missed and the process may later be challenged as unfair or discriminatory.
From inside an organisation, HR and the decision-maker will usually be considering several things at once:
Whether the meeting falls within the statutory right
What the organisation’s policy promises
Whether reasonable adjustments may be required
Whether the requested companion would assist or disrupt the process
The need to progress the case without unreasonable delay
How the decision and its reasoning would look if later scrutinised
A consistent policy remains important, but consistency does not mean refusing every exception. Fairness often requires an employer to consider the particular circumstances and record why a request was accepted or declined.
Employers should also make sure managers understand what a companion is permitted to do. Allowing accompaniment is of limited value if the companion is then prevented from conferring with the employee or properly summarising their position.
What should you do if accompaniment is worrying you?
If you are an employee, check the meeting invitation and your employer’s relevant policy, but do not assume that the wording tells you everything about your rights. Consider obtaining independent advice before responding, particularly if dismissal, discrimination, ill health, whistleblowing or a serious grievance is involved.
If you want someone outside the usual statutory categories to attend, the reasons for the request and the role you want that person to perform will matter. A request connected with disability or another barrier to full participation may need to be considered differently from a simple preference.
If you are an employer, review whether your policies distinguish clearly between statutory accompaniment, discretionary support and reasonable adjustments. Managers should be able to consider requests individually rather than relying on a standard refusal.
Neither side benefits from waiting until the morning of the meeting to address these questions. The right support at an early stage can change the quality of the process and, potentially, its outcome.
Frequently asked questions
Can I insist on taking a solicitor to a disciplinary meeting?
Usually not under the general statutory right to be accompanied. There may be exceptional circumstances, contractual rights or profession-specific considerations, but the position depends on the facts.
Can my employer refuse to let my partner or family member attend?
They may be able to refuse if the person falls outside the statutory categories and no wider contractual right or reasonable adjustment applies. The draft Code would encourage the employer to consider whether allowing support could help resolve the issue.
Do I have a right to a companion at an investigation meeting?
There is generally no statutory right at a disciplinary investigation meeting. Your employer’s policy may allow it, and the employer should consider whether accompaniment is appropriate because of the circumstances or its Equality Act obligations.
Must my employer postpone the meeting if my companion cannot attend?
If the statutory right applies, the employer must accept a reasonable alternative time falling within the legal five-working-day period. The draft Code also says that a longer postponement may sometimes be reasonable, particularly where dismissal is possible, provided it does not cause unreasonable delay.
Having someone properly in your corner
The proposed Code is a welcome acknowledgement that support can improve participation, communication and fairness. But accompaniment remains a fact-sensitive area, and the proposed wording does not give employees an unrestricted choice of companion.
TrustForce provides confidential, independent support to employees preparing for disciplinary and grievance processes. Drawing on more than 20 years of employer-side experience, we help employees understand what the organisation may be considering, identify the evidence that matters and prepare to participate effectively. We also support employers that want to manage difficult workplace concerns fairly and proportionately.
To discuss your circumstances, contact support@trustforce.co.uk or visit www.trustforce.co.uk.