 |
|
|
 
Have your say
|
|
The Right to be Accompanied FAQS Are companions entitled to paid time off ?
An employer must give a worker paid time off during working hours to accompany a fellow worker at a hearing. This applies whether or not the companion is a trade union official. The worker has the right to complain to an Employment tribunal if the employer fails to permit time off. The ACAS Code states that a worker or lay trade union official who has been requested to accompany a worker at a hearing is entitled to take a reasonable amount of paid time off to fulfil this responsibility so long as they are employed by the same employer. A reasonable amount of paid time off should be available for: 1. the hearing; 2. time for the companion to become familiar with the case; 3. time for the companion to confer with the worker before and after the hearing. Barnardo's stewards time off is compensated for centrally by Barnardo's Head Office, Barkinside. » more Can I be accompanied to a grievance hearing ?
According to the legislation, the statutory right to be accompanied applies only to grievance hearings that concern "the performance of a duty by the employer in relation to a worker". This includes: 1. grievances that relate to an employer's legal duty in relation to the worker, such as the employer's duty not to discriminate. It would also include an implied duty, for example the duty to take care of a worker's health and safety. 2. grievances that relate to the employer's contractual commitments to the worker. Grievances about existing terms and conditions are likely to be covered, but not requests for new terms and conditions. The ACAS Code admits that the law remains unclear and that, "only the courts can decide what sort of grievances fall within the statutory definition." The Code provides some examples, which give some guidance. 3. Grievances over pay increases would not be covered unless there was a contractual right to pay increases. However, grievances over equal pay would be included, as this is a statutory duty imposed on employers. 4. Grievances over car parking would not be covered if the employer did not have a contractual duty to provide parking. But if a worker was disabled and needed parking facilities in order to work, then the employer would have a duty of care. In this case the worker would have the right to be accompanied. 5. Grievances arising out of day to day friction between workers would not qualify, unless there were incidents of bullying or harassment involving the employer's duty of care. While the law limits the range of hearings where workers can ask to be accompanied, there is nothing to prevent the negotiation of a workplace agreement providing the right to be accompanied at a wider range of hearings. » more Does a worker have right to paid time off for accompanying someone employed by a different employer ?
No.. However, they have the right not to suffer detriment from their own employer, such as downgrading or dismissal. In practice this means that UNISON stewards will have the right to accompany workers in workplaces other than their own, without suffering detriment, though not to be paid for it. » more |
