Right to reschedule meeting

A. Under section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 (ERA), your member can choose you to accompany him in your capacity as his colleague, but also as an official of a trade union — provided that your union has certified in writing that you have experience of (or have received training in) acting as a companion.

The employer will have to reschedule the disciplinary meeting to allow you to attend, as long as certain conditions are met.

Specifically, in addition to you not being available, your member must propose an alternative time. It is not enough for the individual to simply state that you cannot make the original appointment.

The alternative time that your member proposes must be reasonable (for example, on a day, and at a time that the protagonists can be expected to make) and must occur within five working days of the original appointment. If the employer fails to reschedule the meeting, then it will be acting in breach of the ERA, as well as unreasonably. In such circumstances, any sanction that it imposes on the individual will be void and shall be actionable.