Reschedule a grievance appeal hearing where the employee's companion is not available at the proposed time

Key points

• An employee is entitled to be accompanied at a grievance appeal hearing by a colleague or trade union representative of their choice.
• If the employee's companion is not available at the time proposed by the employer for the grievance appeal hearing, the employee may request an alternative time.
• Provided that the alternative time proposed by the employee is reasonable and falls within a specified time frame, the employer should reschedule the hearing. If the employee requests a postponement outside the specified time frame due to the unavailability of their chosen companion, the employer should grant the request if it considers that the postponement would be reasonable in all the circumstances.

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