The appeal disciplinary hearing should be a two-way process but it will be mainly about you setting out the grounds of the appeal and depending on the company policy could be either a full rehearing of the case or a review looking at the grounds of the appeal.
It should be run in a similar way to the disciplinary hearing and employer should introduce those that are present and explain the purpose of the hearing, everyone’s role at the hearing and how it will be conducted.
The employer will normally ask you to set out your grounds of the appeal and ask you to put forward your reasons why they should change the original decision. They may ask you to go through all of the evidence to support your case and whether you have any new evidence. They will normally have some clarification questions around the allegations and the evidence presented.
You should be able to ask questions, present evidence and call any witnesses relevant to your appeal.
If you have a trade union representative or work colleague with you, they should be able to ask questions, you should also be allowed to confer privately with them.
The person accompanying you should be allowed to address the chair of the meeting and present your appeal setting out the grounds for you, they are not allowed to answer questions on your behalf, and the only way this can happen is if the employer has agreed this.
You should also be asked if there are any special circumstances or mitigation that you think the employer needs to take into account.
Your employer should provide you with minutes from the meeting of what was said in relation to the allegations. The minutes will not normally be verbatim but it is so important that they do reflect what you said and you should not sign them unless you are happy with the contents of the minutes. Should you not be happy with the minutes produced, make the necessary changes to confirm your responses to the questions put to you, your trade union representative will be able to help you with this, if you are accompanied.