Employment issue - Legal support

Haddenham35

A friend of mine is facing a HR disciplinary following allegations made during a work trip. He's going into this alone but I'm advocating some legal counsel in advance, but I've no idea where to start. Just a case of ringing local solicitors who specialise in employment law? I'm really concerned he needs more protection than facing the company on his own.

any advice on where to start would be greatly appreciated. 

Emmia

Is your friend in a union? Normally union representatives or (if they're not a member) a trusted colleague attends the meeting with them... Not an employment lawyer. 

What does their company's internal procedure say on this?

The investigation into the allegations should be handled impartially.

LightFlare

Haddenham35 said:

A friend of mine is facing a HR disciplinary following allegations made during a work trip. He's going into this alone but I'm advocating some legal counsel in advance, but I've no idea where to start. Just a case of ringing local solicitors who specialise in employment law? I'm really concerned he needs more protection than facing the company on his own.

any advice on where to start would be greatly appreciated. 

Is there any truth to the allegations ?

Marcon

Haddenham35 said:

A friend of mine is facing a HR disciplinary following allegations made during a work trip. He's going into this alone but I'm advocating some legal counsel in advance, but I've no idea where to start. Just a case of ringing local solicitors who specialise in employment law? I'm really concerned he needs more protection than facing the company on his own.

any advice on where to start would be greatly appreciated. 

Your post seems to be all about what you feel and what you think should happen. Are you quite sure he wants you to get involved, however well meaning you may be? He knows what happened on that trip and may already know it's a lost cause...

I suggest you start by asking him if he would welcome your intervention. If the answer is yes, with open arms - how serious are the allegations? That might dictate the next step.

Savvy_Sue

LightFlare said:

Haddenham35 said:

A friend of mine is facing a HR disciplinary following allegations made during a work trip. He's going into this alone but I'm advocating some legal counsel in advance, but I've no idea where to start. Just a case of ringing local solicitors who specialise in employment law? I'm really concerned he needs more protection than facing the company on his own.

any advice on where to start would be greatly appreciated. 

Is there any truth to the allegations ?

And what stage is he at? Are they still investigating, or is that stage over and the next stage is the disciplinary? They don't need forensic proof of any allegations. 

Undervalued

Emmia said:

Is your friend in a union? Normally union representatives or (if they're not a member) a trusted colleague attends the meeting with them... Not an employment lawyer. 

What does their company's internal procedure say on this?

The investigation into the allegations should be handled impartially.

With only a very few exceptions an employer is not obliged to allow an employee's solicitor to attend a disciplinary hearing. They are obliged to allow an accredited trade union representative or a work colleague of the employee's choice.

Some specialist employment lawyers can arrange for trade union rep, even for non members, for a fee. Strangely all that matters is that the person is an accredited rep, they don't have to be attending on behalf of their union!

As suggested by another poster, remember that an employer only needs to make a reasonable (layman's) attempt to conduct a fair hearing and then form a "reasonable belief" that the misconduct took place. That is nowhere near the criminal standard of proof (beyond a reasonable doubt) and arguably not even the civil standard of proof (on the balance of probabilities).