Right to be accompanied to probation review

[JeffW]

I started in a new job on the 6th of January. On Friday afternoon last week, I had a chat with my company's MD, which raised concerns in her mind about my performance. As a result, she scheduled an early probationary review, scheduled for Monday morning this week. She informed me in the invitation letter which she sent on Friday afternoon that:

 

-  This was the only time that week that she was available.

- I could be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative. 

- If I was unable to attend, a decision could be made in my absence. 

 

On Monday morning, I had the meeting, and was dismissed for performance issues. Because I had worked there for less than 13 weeks, I will receive a week's notice. Had the meeting been held on or after Wednesday, I would have received a month's notice. 

 

The MD has since sent me a letter explaining the reasons for my dismissal, in which she states that I chose not to be accompanied by anyone. However, she had blocked my access to the company's email and Teams systems over the weekend, meaning that I could not have contacted a colleague in advance of the meeting to ask them to accompany me. Also, although I am not a member of a union, it is highly unlikely that I could have arranged for a representative to have attended at 9:30 am on Easter Monday when I only found out about the meeting on the afternoon of Good Friday. 

 

Do I have any basis for legal action, on the grounds that I was effectively denied the right to be accompanied to the meeting that is provided by the Employment Relations Act 1999? Also, would I have grounds for legal action on the basis that I was not given much time to prepare for the meeting, and the fact that I being denied access to the company's systems over the weekend made it harder for me to prepare for the meeting? 

 

Thank you.

 

Jeff

[JeffW]

4 minutes ago, Ethel Street said:

As you need to have been employed for 2 years before you can bring a claim to Employment Tribunal for Unfair Dismissal unfortunately it is irrelevant whether those parts of the procedure were fair.

 

Hi Ethel

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

I'm not sure that's correct. I believe that, even though I have no comeback if I get sacked within the first 2 years of employment (with a few exceptions, such as discrimination), I do have a right for correct procedure to be followed. There is actually a precedent - from https://www.questcover.com/news/failure-to-comply-with-the-right-of-accompaniment/:

'In Collins v ILC Manchester Ltd t/a International Learning College 2013, the employee was two months into his probationary period and was called into a meeting. The employee wanted a companion to accompany him, but the employer refused and, at the end of the meeting, dismissed him. The employee complained to the employment tribunal that the company had refused him permission to be accompanied to a disciplinary hearing. The tribunal supported the employee's complaint and awarded one weeks worth of pay compensation. The tribunal refused to accept the employers argument that the meeting was not a disciplinary meeting (and so triggered the right to be accompanied) because the decision was already made before the meeting. The tribunal had also commented that it was not relevant to the statutory definition of a disciplinary hearing that the employee was in a probationary period.'

 

Jeff

[JeffW]

Hi Uncle Bulgaria

 

If the meeting had been on Wednesday or later. to allow me time to prepare for the meeting and to arrange for someone to accompany me, I would have been given a month's notice rather than a week's notice. I was therefore thinking of seeking as compensation the difference between a week's notice and a month's notice.

 

Jeff

 

Edited April 7, 2021 by JeffW

[JeffW]

Thanks for the replies everyone.