Employment Appeal Tribunal Confirms Strict Statutory Requirements for Right to be Accompanied
The EAT has ruled that employees must proactively request a companion at disciplinary meetings, confirming that statutory rights depend on this specific request.
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The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has provided critical clarification regarding the statutory right to be accompanied at disciplinary and grievance hearings. In the case of Wolfe v Taka Mayfair Limited [2026] EAT 106, His Honour Judge Auerbach held that a worker must make a specific request to be accompanied for the protections under section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 to be triggered.
Background of the Case
The claimant, Mr Leonardo Wolfe, appealed against a decision from an employment tribunal that refused his application to add a complaint regarding the breach of the right to be accompanied. Mr Wolfe argued that he was dismissed during a meeting without warning. He claimed that because his employer failed to notify him of the meeting's nature, he was denied the opportunity to exercise his right to be accompanied.
The tribunal below had previously noted that, by his own admission, the claimant did not request a companion. Consequently, the tribunal refused the amendment application on the grounds that the claim was bound to fail.
The EAT Ruling
On appeal, Judge Auerbach confirmed that the statutory regime is clear. Section 10(1)(b) explicitly requires a worker to reasonably request to be accompanied at the hearing. If this gateway requirement is not met, the employer's obligations under the remainder of the section do not arise.
The judgment acknowledged the claimant's argument that an employer might deliberately avoid the right by remaining silent about a meeting's purpose. However, the EAT emphasised that it must apply the law as written. The court stated that Parliament has not imposed a general obligation on employers to notify workers of this specific right when inviting them to a meeting. While such conduct might be relevant to other claims, such as unfair dismissal, it does not constitute a breach of section 10 if no request for a companion was made.
Implications for Employers and Workers
The ruling serves as a reminder that the right to be accompanied is a specific statutory entitlement dependent on the worker's request. Although the ACAS Code of Practice suggests employers should inform workers of this right, the EAT reiterated that the Code is not a statute. A failure to observe the Code does not automatically create a liability where the express requirements of the legislation have not been fulfilled.
Judge Auerbach concluded that any perceived gap in these protections is a matter for Parliament to address through legislative reform, rather than for the courts to rectify through interpretation.
Read the entire judgment here: Wolfe v Taka Mayfair Limited [2026] EAT 106
