Specialist Workplace Defence · England and Wales
Disciplinary hearing representative, gross misconduct representation, disciplinary and dismissal appeal representation and employment tribunal claim preparation, provided under the statutory right to be accompanied. Representation outside Birmingham and the wider West Midlands is delivered virtually, by Microsoft Teams or Zoom, as part of the same service and at the same fixed fee.
When your job and your good name are on the line, you should not have to stand alone. Zhan Associates steps in at your side, from the first worrying letter to the moment the hearing ends. We prepare your case with care, protect your rights under Section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999, and speak with authority in the room when it matters most. Steady support. Fixed fees, agreed before any work begins.
Free guides
Before you decide whether you need anyone, it helps to know what your employer is actually required to do, what you are entitled to ask for, and which deadlines are already running. Our guides answer that in full. Nothing is held back for a paid conversation, there is nothing to sign up to, and you are welcome to read them and handle the matter yourself.
What has to happen before a disciplinary hearing, what happens in the room, and how to prepare in the days you actually have. Alongside guides on investigation and suspension, gross misconduct, and who you are entitled to bring with you.
Disciplinary hearings → After the outcomeHow to write grounds of appeal that have to be answered, what an appeal can and cannot repair, and the two deadlines running in parallel afterwards. Only one of them is paused by anything you do internally.
Appeal hearings → The law is changingTribunal time limits double on 1 October 2026. On 1 January 2027 unfair dismissal protection starts at six months instead of two years and the cap on compensation is removed. What each change does, and what it does not.
October 2026 changes →The reality
Your employer does not walk in alone. They arrive with a manager who has rehearsed the allegations, an HR adviser who has run this process many times before, an investigation file assembled over weeks, and a note-taker recording every word you say.
Most employees walk into that room with none of it. No preparation, no strategy, and no one to challenge the evidence or the procedure. Decisions made in that hour follow you: onto your record, into your reference, and into any tribunal claim that follows.
The ACAS Code of Practice sets the standard of fairness your employer must meet. It only protects you if someone in the room holds them to it.
Evidence is gathered, often before you know the case against you exists.
The allegations arrive in writing, with a hearing date that is closer than it should be.
The decisive room. What is said, and challenged, here shapes everything after.
Warning, sanction or dismissal, issued in writing, with a short window to respond.
Your internal right to challenge the decision. Grounds matter more than grievances.
Six months to claim where the relevant date falls on or after 1 October 2026, three months less one day before that. Miss it, and the strongest case dies.
Almost every disciplinary that ends badly was decided in the fortnight before anyone used the word hearing.
Find your stage
You have just seen the six stages. Tell us which one you are at, and we will show you the service built for it and the free guide that explains it. There is no wrong answer, and nothing to sign up to.
Choose the option closest to where you are. Nothing here is a substitute for advice on your own case, which is what the free consultation is for.
An investigation gathers evidence, sometimes before you know a case exists. Suspension is a neutral step to allow that to happen, not a disciplinary sanction, and it should be kept as brief as possible and under review.
The disciplinary hearing is the decisive stage. The employer has to set out the allegations in writing in enough detail to answer, and there is a statutory right to be accompanied. What is prepared and challenged here shapes everything that comes after it.
Gross misconduct is conduct serious enough to justify dismissal without notice for a first offence. A fair process is still required before any such dismissal, and these cases most often turn on the strength of the evidence and the fairness of the procedure.
Where a sanction has been imposed, the appeal is the route to challenge it internally. Grounds that target procedural failure, evidential gaps and inconsistent treatment carry further than a restatement of the defence, and the outcome letter sets the deadline to lodge them.
After a dismissal two clocks run in parallel: the internal appeal deadline in the outcome letter, and the tribunal time limit, which an internal appeal does not pause. An appeal can still reverse or reduce a dismissal, and a documented record strengthens whatever follows.
A negotiated exit converts uncertainty into agreed terms: reference, notice and a settlement figure. It works from a prepared position built on the leverage in the case, and a statutory settlement agreement is signed off by an independent adviser at the end.
Almost every tribunal claim begins with mandatory ACAS Early Conciliation, which pauses the time limit while it runs. The claim itself starts with an ET1, where the drafting frames everything the tribunal reads. The time limits are strict and easily miscalculated.
Test the process
The ACAS Code sets out what a fair disciplinary process looks like. Mark each step below yes, no or not sure, and see which points are worth raising, each tied to the paragraph of the Code that covers it. This is the 2015 Code, the version in force. It is general information, not a view on your case.
This reflects the ACAS Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures dated 11 March 2015, which is the version currently in force. A revised Code was published in draft on 30 July 2026 and is not in force. This is general information about the standard the Code sets. It is not an assessment of your case and not a prediction of any outcome. These seven are the headline checkpoints. The full Position Review works through thirty-two, and a forensic review is what tests the procedure against your own facts.
Free tools
The seven questions above are the headline checkpoints. If you want to go further, two longer tools take the whole process apart. Both are free, neither asks for an email address, and nothing you enter leaves your device.
Thirty-two questions on how your employer has handled the process, each tied to a numbered paragraph of the ACAS Code 2015. Fifteen minutes, and it gives you the points to raise and the deadlines to diarise.
Review the processFor when a decision has already been made. It works out which grounds of appeal are open to you, how well evidenced each one is, the order to put them in, and the structure to write the appeal into.
Analyse the groundsFree, with nothing to sign up for. Both run entirely in your browser: nothing you enter is sent to us or stored anywhere. Both give general information measured against the ACAS Code of Practice dated 11 March 2015, which is the version in force. Neither assesses your case and neither predicts any outcome.
The answer
Zhan Associates exists for one purpose: to defend employees inside the processes that decide their working lives. Three disciplines, applied to every case.
Every allegation is tested against the evidence that is supposed to support it, and every step your employer has taken is benchmarked against the ACAS Code of Practice. Procedural failures are not technicalities. They are leverage, and tribunals can adjust awards by up to 25% for them.
Under Section 10 we put your case, sum it up, respond on your behalf to views expressed, and confer with you throughout the hearing. We attend as a trade union representative accredited by Unite the Union as competent to accompany a worker, which is one of the three categories the section specifies, so the standing is stated rather than assumed. You are no longer the only unprepared person in the room, because you are no longer unprepared, and no longer alone.
Every fee is fixed, scaled to your salary band, and agreed in writing before work begins. No hourly billing, no escalating costs, and no VAT. Zhan Associates is not VAT registered, so the fee you see is the fee you pay.
What we defend
Misconduct, gross misconduct and capability hearings. Prepared defence, statutory in-room advocacy, and every procedural failure put on the record.
Explore this serviceWithout-prejudice positioning built on the leverage in your case, for clients whose best outcome is an exit on strong, agreed terms.
Explore this serviceRaising a grievance is a protected step, and how it is written shapes everything that follows. Our guide sets out how to put one that has to be answered. We do not attend grievance hearings.
Read the guideGrounds of appeal drafted to target what appeals can actually correct: procedural failure, evidential gaps and inconsistent sanctions, with representation at the hearing.
Explore this serviceThe mandatory gateway before tribunal, used properly: a benchmarked settlement position, a written position statement, and the time limits managed.
Explore this serviceET1 claims drafted at three tiers, from straightforward claims to complex discrimination and whistleblowing cases, with deadlines verified first.
Explore this serviceWhy Zhan Associates
Years’ experience in the public and private sector
Years as a senior workplace representative
Coverage across England & Wales
Confidential from first contact
Client experience
It was a very intimidating experience. Having Zhan Associates represent me during my disciplinary hearing made all the difference.
Shakil supported me throughout a very challenging period. His calm, structured approach took the pressure off entirely.
Shakil helped me a lot throughout my case. I really appreciated his support, professionalism and the way he represented me. I felt listened to, supported and well prepared at every stage.
Shakil Dixon was honestly such a good representative to have on my side. Not once did he allow unjust comments and illegal made up rules to go past him, each of them challenged.
How it works
A confidential 15-minute call. Tell us what has happened; we tell you where you stand.
Your documents are reviewed forensically: allegations, evidence and procedure.
A written defence position, with your fixed fee confirmed before any work begins.
We attend the hearing with you and put your case under Section 10.
Debrief, outcome analysis, and next steps, whether appeal, settlement or tribunal, mapped clearly.
Transparent fees
Fairness in pricing mirrors fairness at work: the same service should not cost a warehouse operative what it costs a director. Five salary bands set your fee, fixed in writing before work begins.
Fast forensic triage: risk assessment, ACAS Code analysis and written next steps.
Allegation analysis, evidence stress-test and a written defence framework.
Preparation plus up to four hours of in-room representation for focused hearings.
Preparation plus up to eight hours of in-room representation for complex hearings.
Grounds of appeal drafted, with representation at your appeal hearing.
Multi-allegation, Equality Act 2010 and whistleblowing dimensions added to any defence package.
Without-prejudice positioning, leverage assessment and a written negotiation strategy.
Early conciliation engagement, settlement preparation and a written position statement.
Document review and a submission-ready ET1 claim form.
Detailed factual drafting, legal framing and a reviewed schedule of loss.
Discrimination, whistleblowing, victimisation and constructive dismissal claims, individually scoped.
Urgent turnaround and post-submission amendments, added to any ET1 tier.
Every fee is fixed and confirmed in writing before work begins. Zhan Associates is not VAT registered, so no VAT is charged, so the fee you see is the fee you pay.
Time limits are unforgiving
The extended limit applies where the relevant date, usually the dismissal or the act complained of, falls on or after 1 October 2026. Where that date is earlier, the previous limit of three months less one day still governs your claim.
Either way the clock is already running, and an internal appeal does not stop it. Notifying ACAS is what pauses it. A longer deadline changes the point at which a claim becomes impossible, not the point at which acting becomes sensible: the earlier you move, the more remains open to you, from postponement and preparation through to negotiation. Read what changes in October 2026.
Interactive · Indicative only
Enter one date and see which limit applies and an indicative last day. The limit is six months where the relevant date falls on or after 1 October 2026, and three months less one day before that. It is a guide to the rule, not your deadline, which we confirm on the free consultation.
This is general information, not advice on your case. It does not account for ACAS Early Conciliation, which changes the dates: notifying ACAS pauses the clock, and since 1 December 2025 that conciliation period can run up to twelve weeks rather than six. Different claims can also carry different limits. Treat any date shown as the earliest possible last day, and confirm your real deadline before you rely on it. An internal appeal does not pause the clock. Notifying ACAS is what pauses it.
Free tools
A tribunal award and a settlement are two different figures, reached in two different ways, and most people asking about compensation are really asking about one or the other without realising it. Start with the tribunal figure if nothing has been offered yet. Start with the settlement tool if an offer is already on the table, or you expect one soon.
One question points you at the right tool. Has a settlement offer been made, or do you expect one soon?
Start with the tribunal figure. It works out what a tribunal might award, before anything has been offered.
Work out the tribunal figureStart with the settlement range. It frames what a negotiated exit might be worth when an offer is on the table or expected.
Work out a settlement rangeQuestions, answered plainly
Yes, that is the core of what we do. The statutory right to be accompanied under Section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 applies to workers regardless of union membership, with no qualifying period. If you are not unionised, or joined too recently for your union to act, we step in immediately.
It is the law that gives workers the right to be accompanied at disciplinary and grievance hearings. The companion may put and sum up your case, respond on your behalf to views expressed at the hearing, and confer with you throughout. It is the statutory foundation for everything we do in the room.
Section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 specifies three categories of companion: a fellow worker, an official employed by a trade union, and a trade union representative certified by their union as competent to accompany a worker. We attend in the third category, as a trade union representative accredited by Unite the Union as competent to accompany a worker. Where your request to be accompanied is reasonable, your employer must agree to it. You do not need to be a union member yourself.
Yes. We provide direct, in-room representation at disciplinary and appeal hearings across England and Wales, in person or by video. We do not attend grievance hearings. If your representative is unavailable on the proposed date, the law allows the hearing to be postponed to a reasonable alternative within five working days.
Yes. Our Negotiation Strategy service builds a without-prejudice settlement position from the procedural leverage in your case. Where a formal settlement agreement is reached, the law requires sign-off by a relevant independent adviser. We prepare the position and coordinate that final step.
Yes. Early Conciliation is the mandatory first step before almost any tribunal claim. We prepare your position statement, benchmark a realistic settlement range and manage the process, including the effect on your tribunal time limits.
Yes. We draft ET1 claims at three tiers, from straightforward single claims (salary-banded, from £495) through to complex discrimination, whistleblowing and constructive dismissal claims, plus urgent drafting and amendments where deadlines are close.
Insights
No obligation, no commitment
Confidential · Free 15-minute consultation
What’s said in the room matters. Tell us what has happened, and within one free call you will know where you stand, what it costs, and what happens next.
