Edapt, as a professional edu-legal support body, has supported teachers across England and Wales in a full range of employment issues since 2012. Whilst Edapt is not a trade union, it is extremely rare for us to be refused accompaniment by a school or local authority at a disciplinary or grievance hearing.

Whilst our caseworkers don't strictly fall under the relevant subsections of the Employment Relations Act 1999 (ERA 1999), employers, in particular schools, are generally very pragmatic and understand that allowing appropriate accompaniment is better for both parties. Under the ERA 1999 trade union members are legally entitled to be accompanied by a person employed by a trade union or an official of a trade union.

Employees can also be accompanied by a colleague from the same workplace, although this is not always beneficial to the process, and some colleagues maybe reluctant to provide such support.

Although technically the ERA 1999 could mean Edapt might be refused accompaniment to a subscriber, our pragmatic approach ensures that our subscribers are not refused in brining along one of our caseworkers for accompaniment purposes. Ultimately a school (or any employer) denying an employee a reasonable request for accompaniment could be detrimental to in the long run, and there is emerging case law in the area.

You can read more about the issues in the following article in Schools Week :https://schoolsweek.co.uk/why-the-acas-code-of-practice-should-change/

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