Pilot assistance at grievance and disciplinary hearings may be worth a mention here. The Employment Relations Act 1999 and the ACAS code of practice state:-
A worker has a statutory right to be accompanied at a disciplinary or grievance hearing by a single companion who is either a:-
1. Fellow worker
2. A full-time official employed by a trade union or a lay trade
union official
However, workers may have contractual rights to be accompanied by persons other than those listed above, for instance a partner, spouse or legal representative.
Problems arise if you cannot get a colleague to assist you and you do not belong to a trade union. You are walking into a hearing unassisted and emotionally involved and VERY vulnerable. You may have the right to be accompanied by a legal representative but this is unlikely.
Perhaps the time to think about some form of trade union membership is now rather than later. It doesn't have to be BALPA or the IPA/IPF.
MP
