Ask an Expert - Disciplinary Meeting with Employee with Trade Union Official
Q: We have an employee who is about to
attend a disciplinary meeting. As an employer,
we do not recognise a trade union for
collective bargaining purposes. The employee
has asked for a trade union official to
accompany her to the disciplinary meeting. In
normal circumstances, we know that we would
have to allow this external person from the
trade union to accompany her even though we
do not recognise a trade union. However, when
we asked more about this person’s credentials
we discovered that, although this person is an
accredited union official, the employee is not
a member of the trade union. Apparently the
trade union official is prepared to represent her
as a favour, because she is a close friend. Does
she have a right to be accompanied by this
person if she is not a member of the union?
